Any smiles that the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team showed when the Section III Class C playoff bracket came out did not last long.
True, the Lakers were a no. 2 seed, and would enjoy a first-round bye, something only Cazenovia, the undefeated top seed and reigning state champions, would otherwise have in a 14-team field.
But it also placed Skaneateles right into a dangerous spot when it hosted last Tuesday night’s Class C quarterfinal – and sure enough, no. 7 seed Homer exploited that danger, leading most of the way and ending the Lakers’ season in a 15-10 defeat.
The difficult match-up problems that the Trojans posed did not get mitigated by the fact that Homer barely survived its opening-round game against no. 10 seed Watertown IHC on May 17, needing two late goals to pull out a 6-5 win over the Cavaliers.
In a game like this, so many different moments could serve as important turning points. Having not played for a week, Skaneateles was slow out of the gate, and that came at a time when Homer, too, was struggling to produce much, so the Lakers still found itself trailing 2-1.
Then the Skaneateles attack sprang to life in the second quarter, finding gaps in the Trojans’ defenses often. Instead of getting rewarded, though, the Lakers found itself in the same position due to an inconsistent defense, so it went to halftime still trailing by that single goal, 6-5.
A wild third quarter followed. Again, Skaneateles found itself productive in the face of Homer’s defense, and again it meant little, for the Trojans kept answering and, in fact, had spread out its margin to 12-10 with one period left.
All of that frustration took a toll, and the Lakers went quiet in the fourth quarter, unable to do much exactly when it needed one more scoring surge.
Sam Duggan, with two goals and three assists, led a Skaneateles attack where Owen Kuhns and Tyler Strods each scored three times. Mark Goetzmann had a goal and two assists, while Cullen McGlynn also found the net and Reece Eddy added an assist.
On Homer’s side, Dean Riley was quite generous, dishing out a career-best eight assists, those passes often going to Anthony Basile, who had six goals, and Brad Savocool, who scored four times. Jake Gray added three goals as Jack Connery turned back 10 Laker shots.
What made this defeat even more difficult to accept was the fact that CBA, the no. 3 seed in Class C, lost its quarterfinal game in overtime to LaFayette, so a great chance to make it to the sectional final went astray.
Instead, the boys would watch as spectators – and cheer on the girls Lakers’ quest to repeat its Class C sectional title and try to get the third state championship in program history.
It all started with last Tuesday’s sectional quarterfinal, a 16-4 romp over no. 9 seed Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes. No doubt, it was made easier by the fact that the Gaelic Knights had to go to four overtimes to beat no. 8 seed Cazenovia 8-7 less than 24 hours earlier.
Skaneateles sensed this and jumped all over Ludden/Grimes in a 12-1 first-half blitz, easing up from there as, by game’s end, five different Lakers had three-goal hat tricks.
Hannah Powers led the way, augmenting her three goals with four assists, while Kyla Sears and Nicole Beatson both had two assists to go with their trio of tallies. Alana Navaroli and Molly Wood matched those three-goal totals, with Hannah Logan adding a goal and assist.
This leads to Friday night’s Class C semifinal at Liverpool High School Stadium, where the Lakers face no. 4 seed LaFayette, who took out Westhill 12-7 in its quarterfinal.
