Through the snow, and eventual warmth, that greeted Central New Yorkers during the April school break, the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team started to find its winning form.
The Lakers, who lost its March 28 opener at West Genesee, returned home to take on Onondaga last Tuesday and, led by Hannah Powers, earned a 10-7 victory over the Tigers.
OCS has a West Genesee connection in that its head coach, Beth Ross, is the daughter of long-time Wildcats mentor Bob Elmer, and these Tigers proved quite a challenge for Skaneateles.
Snow and wind made things tough, too, but Skaneateles battled its way to a 6-4 halftime lead. It would spend the second half answering all of the Tigers’ charges and getting key stops from Mallorie Olin, who made seven saves.
Powers emerged as the main force for the Lakers’ attack, pouring in five goals, half her team’s output. Kyla Sears chimed in with two goals and one assist, while Alana Navaroli had a goal and two assists. Emma Ford and Molly Wood also found the net as Hannah Logan contributed an assist.
Two days later, the Lakers hosted Jordan-Elbridge, a game that was originally set to be played at J-E before the snows hit, moving the contest to Hyatt Stadium and its artificial turf.
That suited Skaneateles just fine, as it proceeded to smash the Eagles 21-3, unleashing a diverse, well-balanced attack that saw seven different players pick up multiple goals and Nicole Beatson feed all of them with her five assists.
None of them had more than the three goals posted by Ford, Wood and Logan, who combined for four assists between them. Four others – Sears, Navaroli, Powers and Casey VanSlyke – each got two goals and two assists. Natalie Roche, Elizabeth Lane and Sophie Gorman joined Beatson with single tallies.
This leads to a pair of key back-to-back road games early next week, with trips to Westhill on Monday and Cazenovia on Wednesday, before the Lakers head back home next Friday to take on Chittenango.
