A lot of frustration surrounded the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team in the days leading up to the Section III Class C playoffs.
Close defeat to two big rivals, Marcellus and Cazenovia, left the Lakers in a more urgent mood going into last Monday’s game against Westhill.
And just when it was needed, the Skaneateles defense responded with, arguably, its best performance of the season, shutting down the Warriors for long stretches in a 6-3 victory.
Westhill had just ripped past state-ranked CBA 13-6 in its last outing on May 11. Knowing this, the Lakers’ defense, led by Trevor Diamond, Mike Card, Erik Pola and Ty Winkelman, proceeded to take out the Warriors, so effective in forcing turnovers that goalie Ryan Higman only had to make six saves.
Skaneateles pulled off a first-half shutout, which helped atone for a modest attack that could only put together a 3-0 advantage. That same production was present in the second half, but though Westhill finally got on the board, it could not catch up.
Tyler Strods did manage to score three times, earning a hat trick. Connor O’Hara and Alex Weiss each had one goal and one assist, while Brendan Major earned the other goal.
At home on Wednesday night, Skaneateles closed out the regular season against Christian Brothers Academy, who was 11-1 a week earlier, but fell into a three-game skid that included losses to Cazenovia, Westhill and Homer, the last of them in overtime.
What followed was yet another tense, close contest where the Lakers squandered a lead late in regulation and fell to the Brothers 12-11 in overtime, the second OT loss in a six-day span.
In a back-and-forth first half, Skaneateles got exposed on the defensive side, falling behind 6-3 in the first quarter, only to turn around and blank CBA the rest of the half.
Skaneateles used that drought, plus its own success with face-offs and attacks, to charge into an 8-6 halftime lead, and maintained that margin through most of the second half, too.
O’Hara and Steve Bright, each with two goals and two assists, led a balanced attack where Zach Ross added two goals and one assist. Major and Nate Scuderi both got one goal and one assist as Strods and Trevor Diamond contributed goals, too.
Yet even that wasn’t enough as the Brothers, trailing 11-8 in the fourth quarter, roared back to tie it, 11-11, paced by Nick Papayanakos, who finished with four goals and two assists.
And that momentum carried over into the OT period, where Cody Radziewicz, who already had three goals and two assists, gave a well-timed feed to Andrew Romagnoli, who beat Higman for the game-winner.
