Mired in an 0-3 start, the Skaneateles boys soccer team had ample opportunities to reverse its course – and did so, winning four times in a five-day span, culminating with its sweep at the Finger Lakes Cup it hosted last weekend at Hyatt Stadium.
First, though, the Lakers had to get into the win column – which it did in last Tuesday night’s visit to Solvay, where a big first half led to a 5-0 shutout of the Bearcats.
Skaneateles maintained the pressure throughout the early going, and it worked, as the Lakers grabbed a 4-0 edge by halftime and ended up taking 16 shots, more than double Solvay’s total.
Jack Bailey led the charge, scoring twice and adding an assist. Tyler Strods, Sam Clymer and Max Messie each had one goal, while Eli Goodell and James Motyl each had one assist. Billy Patrick stopped all six shots he faced.
Then, right before the Finger Lakes Cup, Skaneateles hosted Jordan-Elbridge Thursday night, and made it back-to-back wins, rolling past the Eagles 5-0.
Strods found the net less than four minutes into the game, and then made it 2-0 late in the first half with another goal in the 35th minute, Skaneateles not always taking advantage of its constant pressure, but still seizing control.
Then it was Bailey’s turn to dazzle, as he twice found the net in a seven-minute span of the second half to give him four goals for the week. Messie contributed another goal as Clymer, Andrew Weiss, Cullen McGlynn and Max Goldman each picked up assists during the night.
Tournament play in the Finger Lakes Cup began on Friday with West Genesee and Clinton playing to a 1-1 stalemate. Then, in the nightcap, Skaneateles took apart Burke Catholic with a dominant first half en route to a 6-1 victory.
It was 4-0 by halftime, and the Lakers spread its production around. Bailey scored twice, while Strods, Weiss, Graham McCarthy and Francis Lombardi each had one goal. Messie, Motyl and Jack VanSlyke picked up assists.
By contrast, when the Lakers faced Class B power Clinton on Saturday afternoon, it required going beyond 80 minutes, into double overtime, before Skaneateles prevailed 1-0 over the Warriors.
All through regulation, Clinton (who tied West Genesee 1-1 the day before) played its trademark defense, needing to protect its net because Skaneateles kept applying the pressure, taking heat off its own goalie, Patrick, who only had to make two saves.
And it nearly worked, as Max Huckaby stopped all of the shots he faced in regulation and the first OT for 13 saves overall. Yet in the second OT, the Lakers charged once more, and this time Jack Dawley, taking a pass from Bailey, flicked it past Huckaby for the game-winner.
Having turned everything around in the span of less than a week, Skaneateles (4-3) would be favored for its fifth win in a row Tuesday, at Phoenix, before returning home Thursday night to take on archrival Marcellus.
