Okay, so at least the Skaneateles boys soccer team doesn’t have to worry about going undefeated again – just the normal things instead.
And the Lakers learned plenty in its season-opening trip to the Canandaigua Tournament over Labor Day weekend, finishing in third place but showing vast improvement from one day to the next.
Not only have the Lakers dealt with mass graduation losses, it saw another top player, A.J. Richichi, head to Phillips Exeter Prep for his senior year. Trevor Diamond, last year’s goalie, chose not to play soccer this fall.
With all this as a backdrop, in the first round Skaneateles met Honeoye Falls-Lima. Try as it could, the Lakers could not overcome defensive lapses in a 4-1 defeat.
Skaneateles did get on the board in the first half, Adam Miles converting off Tyler Strods’ corner kick. And it had most of the possession, too, only to see its young defense get burned often.
As a result, the Lakers trailed, 2-1, at the half, and saw HFL pull away in the late going. Four different players – Pat Thompson, Zach Terwilliger, Jason Trinidad and Savas Hetelekides – got the four HFL goals.
So the Lakers had to show it could bounce back from a loss, something it never had to do on its way to the state Class B championship in 2010.
In Saturday’s consolation game, Skaneateles faced host Canandaigua and was brilliant in the early going before hanging on for a 4-2 victory.
Before the game was 10 minutes old, the Lakers had a 3-0 edge. Ryan Higman, with three assists, and Alex Brownlee, who scored twice, led the charge.
And it was 4-0 by halftime as Austin Amory and B.J. Kerr also landed goals, while Mike Jorgensen added an assist. Canandaigua did score twice in the second half, but the Lakers held on.
Meanwhile, the Skaneateles girls soccer team, who reached last year’s Section III Class B semifinal before losing to Marcellus, opened on Friday with a 4-1 loss to West Genesee.
It all came down to the fact that the Lakers’ defense could not do anything against Wildcat forward Melissa Fumano, who burned them for a three-goal hat trick, all in the first half.
Lauren Goodchild did score for Skaneateles, Catie Woodruff earning the assist. Mary Buck finished with nine saves.
As the girls Lakers open league play against Westhill, the boys Lakers will have a non-league game against Cicero-North Syracuse, whom it beat in last year’s Finger Lakers Cup. The rematch is at the Northstars’ home field behind Gillette Road Middle School.
