Forty minutes of boys soccer action did nothing to settle matters in Tuesday night’s Section III Class B final – but soon after, 42 seconds of pure bliss helped deliver Skaneateles its first championship since 2010, at the expense of its Laker rivals from Cazenovia.
That sudden surge early in the second half, which included goals from junior Sam Clymer and senior Andrew Weiss, was enough for Skaneateles to beat Cazenovia 2-0 in Tuesday night’s title game at Liverpool High School Stadium.
Thus, on the same Liverpool turf where Westhill beat Skaneateles in last November’s sectional final, these Lakers were able to turn it around.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Weiss. “(After) being on the other side of it, there’s no better way to end your senior year.”
Skaneateles head coach Aaron Moss said his players drew plenty of motivation from that 2013 defeat in the sectional final and worked hard in the ensuing 12 months to make sure it ended in a different way.
As it turned out, the main obstacle was Cazenovia. Twice, they met in the regular season, and on each occasion Sknaeateles pitched a shutout, winning 2-0 at the Sean Googin Sports Complex on Sept. 5, and playing those other Lakers to a 0-0 draw at Hyatt Stadium on Oct. 13.
All through the first half of this third and most important encounter, the two sides remained 0-0. Other than Tyler Modzeleski’s shot that Billy Patrick stopped in the 11th minute, Skaneateles protected its own end quite well during those early stages.
At the same time, it nearly scored twice. In the 17th minute, Clymer banged a shot from the point off the crossbar, and just before halftime, Graham McCarthy hit that same crossbar with a curving shot.
With those near-misses in their minds, the Skaneateles players were confident going into halftime, where Moss told them that they needed to get something on the board fast.
“I told them that if you score in the first two minutes, you will score multiple goals,” he said.
Just 1:08 into the second half, Clymer fulfilled his coach’s prophecy, taking a perfectly-timed long pass from Francis Lombardi, running in alone and fitting a shot inside the right post, just past the reach of Cazenovia goalie Garrett Clabeaux.
Before Clabeaux and his teammates could regroup, Skaneateles attacked again and, 42 seconds later, Weiss flashed open in front, and his hard shot found the net.
“You can’t stop playing when you get a goal,” said Weiss. “That’s the best time to pounce, and we did.”
Now with that two-goal margin, Skaneateles cranked up its defense. Back-line players Sam Duggan, Shawn Palmer, Nick Palmer, James Motyl and Reece Eddy caused so much frustration that Cazenovia’s Cole Willard picked up two cards and was sent off.
Down to 10, Cazenovia only had occasional attacks the rest of the way, and though Skaneateles didn’t add to its lead with that man advantage, it still had enough to put away a sectional championship.
Now it’s on to the state tournament, where Skaneateles faces Section IV champion Union Springs/Port Byron in Saturday’s regional final at the Wright National Soccer Complex in Oneonta at 11:30 a.m. The winner advances to the Nov. 15-16 state final four in Middletown, where Skaneateles won it all four years ago.
“We need to play like we have all year,” said Moss. “It’s a one-game season. We need to work hard and have fun.”
