Having rolled to a 5-0 start, the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team went back on the road for a pivotal week where it started out believing that it was pulling away from the rest of the Division II crowd – until the reigning champs proved otherwise.
For the first part, though, Skanetaeles showed that, in the ongoing saga involving the Laker sides of Skaneateles and Cazenovia, it’s clear now that the power has shifted back west.
Skaneateles proved this by going to the Morrisville State IcePlex last Tuesday night and taking apart Cazenovia in all phases of the game on the way to a 7-0 shutout victory.
During a dominant first period, Skaneateles applied all sorts of pressure, and it translated to a quick 3-0 edge. After a single goal in the second period, the visitors made sure that Cazenovia did not get close by scoring three more times in the last period.
Through it all, Owen Kuhns was a catalyst, earning his first three-goal hat trick of the season and adding an assist, while Mitchell Jones picked up a goal and two assists.
Connor Hill earned two goals, with Taylor Haberstock also getting a goal. Patrick Major, Tyler Strods and Jake Cooney each had two assists, with Jack Fabrizio also earning an assist. To preserve the shutout, goaltender Ethan Kupp stopped all 19 shots he faced.
Following this, the Lakers would make its way north, to Crisafulli Rink (also known as “The Fort”) for Friday night’s game at Oswego, the first time the two sides have met since the Buccaneers prevailed in last year’s Section III Division II final.
Any notion that Skaneateles had solved the Oswego riddle dissipated in a brutal first period, and despite an inspired mid-game surge, the Lakers lost, 5-3, to the Bucs.
Carrying all sorts of motivation against the undefeated visitors, Oswego took Skaneateles apart in the first period. Three times, those attacks led to goals, and for the first time since the Nov. 24 tournament final at Queensbury, the Lakers trailed.
But that 3-0 deficit nearly vanished in the second period. All through those 15 minutes, Skaneateles peppered the Bucs with scoring chances, and watched Jones score a pair of goals, while Owen Kuhns got one goal and one assist. Josh Kuhns earned two assists as Cooney, Strods and Haberstock got one assist apiece.
Despite that Laker push, Oswego emerged from that frame still in front, 4-3, and it tacked on an insurance goal in the final period as Chase Izyk turned away every chance he faced, the Bucs goalie finishing with 33 saves, nearly twice Kupp’s total.
Oswego’s attack was well-balanced, too. Only Justin Clark found the net twice, while Jake Anderson, Jake Oleyourryk and Zack Zerrahn got one goal apiece. Sean Mooney and Dave Walpole each had two assists.
With its six-game win streak over, Skaneateles looks to start a new streak at Clinton on Wednesday before returning home next Friday night to take on New Hartford, who got off to a 4-0 start, its best since its back-to-back state title runs in 2009 and ’10.
