Nothing new in this tale – once again, the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team snatched a victory from main rival Marcellus. So many times in recent years, both in the regular season and the playoffs, the Lakers have found a way to beat the Mustangs in an exciting manner, and Thursday night’s 9-8 victory at Marcellus was no different. Once down by four goals in the second half, the Lakers stormed back, pulled even – and won it when, with 2.2 seconds to play, senior Dianne Vitkus slid a shot past Mustang goalie Renee Poullott. Skaneateles begins 2011 determined to regain the Section III Class C title it ceded to Carthage a season ago. Though Maddy Morrissey is now at Duke, most of the starting lineup is back, including two juniors who just made Division I verbal commitments – Shelby McNeilly to Cornell, Carly Davis to North Carolina. To start with, the Lakers had to face Marcellus – and especially had to deal with senior Nora Barry, arguably the top player in Central New York. The Florida-bound senior had opened the season with six goals (surpassing the 200-goal mark for her career) as the Mustangs romped past Cicero-North Syracuse 17-3 two nights earlier. Skaneateles was effective in this task in the first half, keeping Barry off the board as they double-teamed her and, at times, had as many as four defenders tracking her every move. In turn, the Lakers dictated the game’s tempo, never letting Marcellus go at a faster pace. Yet despite this, and despite two goals from Davis and one from Vitkus, Skaneateles could not hold three different leads in the first half. Marcellus saw Catherine Nolan convert twice, with Ellen Brooks and Molly McGuane also scoring, to take a 4-3 lead to the break. Then Barry made things worse, finally breaking loose early in the second half for three consecutive goals to make it 7-3. Just when the Lakers looked finished, though, McNeilly countered with her own goal just 14 seconds after Barry got the hat trick, and the comeback began. A yellow card gave the Lakers a power play where, in a 15-second span, Davis and Erin Callahan converted to slash the margin to 7-6 before Barry’s fourth goal with 11:19 left restored the margin. But that would be the Mustangs’ last goal of the night as goalie Shannon Byrne, along with defenders Sharon Adams, Elyce Buell and Sheila Gaffney, picked up their level of play in the homestretch. Meanwhile, Taylor Kerr scored with 6:21 left to cut it to 8-7. When another yellow card left the Mustangs a player short, Skaneateles took full advantage as, with 52.3 seconds left, McNeilly beat Poullott for the tying goal. Skaneateles won the ensuing draw, worked down the clock and drew a foul with 5.6 seconds to play. Callahan had the free-position shot, but had enough time to make a move on a defender, then pass it to a wide-open Vitkus, who slid it past Poullott for the game-winner.