No one can argue that the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team truly earned the Division II American Conference regular-season championship.
When it was needed, the Lakers stepped up and won close, pressure-packed games and showed an ability to play at its best when things were dicey.
The decisive stretch started Feb. 6 at Onondaga Nation Arena, where Skaneateles, trailing by two goals to first-place CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt late in the third period, saw Reece Eddy and Owen Kuhns score goals two minutes apart to force overtime, and then Matt Benson score with 1:23 left in the extra period for a dramatic 3-2 win.
Flying high from that win, and now up to no. 2 in the state rankings (behind only St. Lawrence), the Lakers came back to Allyn Arena last Tuesday night, knowing that another victory, this one over defending sectional champion Auburn, would clinch first place.
This one would prove tense as well, Skaneateles never trailing, but never able to feel comfortable until the last seconds, when it finally scored the clincher to put away the Maroons 3-1.
Everyone remembered when these neighbors and rivals first met Dec. 19 at Casey Park, when Auburn scored first, but then Skaneateles blitzed the Maroons in an 8-1 romp.
Responding well to that defeat, Auburn had won 11 of 12 games since, its lone setback a 6-3 defeat to CBA/J-D. In short, the Lakers knew the rematch would prove far more challenging, even on home ice and in front of a loud home crowd.
And that challenge didn’t dissipate even though Eddy scored just 3:58 into the game. Auburn, trailing 1-0, attacked hard the rest of the first period, putting the Lakers’ defense to work.
That carried over into the second period, where at the 11-minute mark Kaiden Tubbert, the Maroons’ leading goal-scorer, drew defenders to him before passing to Connor Komnecky, who shot went through a screen and beat Bennett Morse to tie the game.
Gradually, though, the Lakers gained more possession and forced Auburn to protect its own net. Maroons goalie C.J. Panek was spectacular, recording 30 saves to keep his team close.
Frustrated with its inability to clear it out, Auburn took a pair of penalties late in the second period. Patrick Major capitalized on the five-on-three situation, putting the puck past Panek for the go-ahead goal as Kuhns and Devin Callahan earned the assists.
Though the Maroons had a series of opportunities in the third period to pull even, it could not do so, and with 20 seconds left Reggie Buell converted an empty-net goal to clinch the win and the league title.
The sectional playoff grid could create a third Skaneateles-Auburn clash in the semifinals at Allyn Arena if the Lakers beat Oswego in the opening round Friday at 7 p.m. at Allyn Arena, and the Maroons prevail against Cazenovia at the Morrisville State IcePlex that same night.
Before that, though, the Lakers had Senior Night festivities on Friday, and nearly forgot about the hockey game against Clinton, taking a long while to get going before it beat the Warriors 4-1.
Much of the first period was a stalemate until Clinton’s Matt Martini, off a feed from Peter Burke, beat Laker goalie Jarrett McDonald to put the Warriors up 1-0.
For the rest of the game, though, McDonald, starting on Senior Night, stopped everything he faced, recording 15 saves and waiting for his offense to spring to life.
It finally did so midway through the second period, Buell converting off a feed from Kuhns. Then, with 2:25 left in the period, James Motyl put Skaneateles in front, and Buell quickly followed with a second goal that made it 3-1 going into the intermission.
Having settled down, the Lakers made sure Clinton didn’t get many scoring opportunities in the third period, and Major’s goal would seal the victory. Motyl got credit for an assist to go with his goal, while Eddy had a pair of assists.
