More than nine months later, the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team still carried with it the scars of a Section III Division II championship quest halted one step short of the summit by its neighbors and rivals from Auburn.
That 2-1 defeat to the Maroons last Feb. 22 at Utica Memorial Auditorium, where Auburn netted both of its goals in the last eight minutes of the third period after the Lakers dominated most of the game’s flow of play, is an easy rallying point for a Skaneateles side that returns most of its top players from 2013-14.
And it didn’t take long for the Lakers to show just what it could do, as it went to the Queensbury Tournament on Thanksgiving weekend and crushed a pair of Section II opponents, scoring a combined 14 goals along the way.
Skaneateles faced host Queensbury in last Friday’s opening round. Against a Spartans team playing at far from full strength since Queensbury’s football team had made it to the state Class A final, the Lakers controlled matters from start to finish, winning by a 6-1 margin.
Other than allowing a first-period goal, the Lakers were steady and relentless on both sides of the ice, scoring twice in each period and pulling away from Queensbury as Patrick Major led the way with two goals and two assists.
Raymond Falso also found the net twice, with Reggie Buell dishing out three assists. Matt Benson and Ben Russell each had one goal and one assist, with Owen Kuhns also picking up an assist.
Moving on to Saturday’s final, Skaneateles met Glens Falls, and with plenty of early-game production, the Lakers blasted its way to an 8-2 victory and the first-place trophy.
Any doubts were erased when Skaneateles sprinted out to a 4-0 edge by the end of the first period. That margin had grown to 7-1 as the second period concluded, allowing the Lakers to allow plenty of players to see ice time.
Falso, before exiting, picked up a three-goal hat trick, while Kuhns picked up three assists. Buell managed a goal and two assists as Benson, Russell, James Motyl and Devin Callahan had one goal apiece. Major and Jacob Patalino had two assists apiece, with Reece Eddy, Cullen McGlynn and Trey Wirth managed single assists.
Skaneateles would get to scrimmage Division I powerhouse West Genesee on Wednesday before its home opener Friday against Webster Thomas, from the Section V ranks.
The Lakers are part of the Division II American Conference with Auburn, CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, Whitesboro and Cortland-Homer. Oswego, Cazenovia, Clinton, New Hartford and Ontario Bay are in the National Conference, and the Lakers’ first encounter with Auburn is Dec. 19 at Casey Rink, with the rematch Feb. 10 at Allyn Arena.
