One more to go.
Led by senior Kevin Rice, the Skaneateles boys soccer team made it 21 wins in a row by beating Section VI champion Akron 4-2 in Saturday’s Class B state semifinals at Middletown High School. With that win, the Lakers advanced to Sunday’s championship game against Burke Catholic, to be played at 3 p.m. Burke Catholic needed overtime to beat Northeastern Clinton 1-0 in the other semifinal. Against Akron, the only major question surrounded whether Skaneateles would feel nerves about appearing in the state final four. It took approximately one minute, 23 seconds for that question to be answered as the Lakers quickly moved ahead 1-0, Spencer Parker landing an unassisted goal. Rice then converted in the 34th minute, with an assist from Jeff Baldetti, which made it 2-0, where it stayed until halftime. Then Rice tacked on another goal early in the second half as Jeff Higman got credit for the assist, expanding the margin to 3-0. Akron did score, the first goal Skaneateles had allowed in the entire sectional playoffs, but the Lakers restored the margin to 4-1 as Rice fed Baldetti for the clincher. The Lakers cruised through the rest of the game on its way to the state finals, even though David Malone and Peter Durden accounted for Akron’s late tallies.