Whatever disappointment the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team may have felt leaving Utica’s Memorial Auditorium in the wake of its 4-0 defeat to CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt in the Section III Division II final on Feb. 28 was tempered by the knowledge that, if things went as planned, it would not be the last time the Lakers and Brothers would see each other this winter.
And that’s exactly how it’s turned out.
As the at-large entry into the state Division II tournament, Skaneateles went on the road Saturday afternoon to Mount Vernon’s Ice Hutch and defeated Section I champion Pelham 3-2 in the state quarterfinal round.
Hours later, at Onondaga Nation Arena, CBA/J-D won its state quarterfinal, too, pulling away to beat Section V champion Victor 5-1, and since the Lakers and Brothers were in the same half of the state Division II bracket, they’ll have one more encounter – this time with a berth in the state finals on the line.
It will come next Saturday, at 10 a.m., back at Utica Auditorium, the first of two semifinal games in the state “Frozen Four”, the other semifinal pitting Williamsville East (Section VI) against Lake Placid (Section VII). The winners advance to the title game at 12:30 a day later.
They go into this game on even terms, from a 3-3 tie in December at Allyn Arena to a come-from-behind, 3-2 overtime win by Skaneateles in Nedrow on Feb. 6 to CBA/J-D’s payback in Utica in the sectional final.
In order for all this to happen, the Lakers, who fell from no. 1 to no. 5 in the state rankings after that loss to the Brothers, had to beat Pelham for a second time this winter.
Their first meeting with the Pelicans came Jan. 3 in the Duke Schneider Memorial Tournament final at Allyn Arena, a tight contest that Skaneateles pulled out 2-1. Given that, the Lakers were in no mood to make it as interesting now.
Just 33 seconds into the game, Reggie Buell stunned the home crowd with a goal that gave Skaneateles a lead it would not relinquish. Before Pelham could recover, Reece Eddy found the net at the 5:59 mark of the first period, and the Lakers took a 2-0 edge to the first intermission.
Skaneateles got another big opportunity when the Pelicans were whistle for a boarding major in the second period. Applying constant pressure, the Lakers capitalized at the 8:18 mark, Buell netting his second goal.
Sporting a 3-0 lead, the Lakers then got too aggressive late in the period, with two penalties, one of them a four-minute major, which gave Pelham a chance to get back in the game. And it did, Lucas Gabow and Ben Hurd scoring in a 37-second burst to reduce the Skaneateles advantage to a single goal.
Still with a man advantage going into the third period, the Pelicans could not pull even. There, and for the rest of the game, the Lakers leaned on a tough, physical defense to stifle Pelham’s attack. Morse only had to make 15 saves overall.
Skaneateles is attempting to earn a third state championship in the modern era, to go with the Division I crown it earned in 1984 and the Division II state title it gained in 1989.
