On the fourth try, and when it counted the most, the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team broke through against CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt and earned a chance a its first state championship since 1989.
In Saturday morning’s state Division II semifinal at Utica Memorial Auditorium, the Lakers’ trio of third-period goals, two of them 31 seconds apart, was enough to beat the Brothers 4-3.
With the win, Skaneateles advanced to Sunday’s state title game at 12:30 against Section VI champion Williamsville East, who used a Dylan Cicero goal with 1:17 left in regulation to beat Lake Placid 3-2 in the other semifinal.
Skaneateles and CBA/J-D entered the state semifinal on even terms. Three previous meetings during the season had ended with each side winning once, plus a 3-3 tie on Dec. 17 at Allyn Arena.
But it was the Brothers with the recent history of success on Utica ice, from its 2013 run to the state Division II title to the fact that it beat Skaneateles 4-0 in the Section III final exactly two weeks earlier.
By contrast, the Lakers hadn’t reached the state Frozen Four in 25 years, since 1990. Thus, it was a brand-new experience for all of the Skaneateles players, but it didn’t show in the game’s opening stages.
Applying plenty of pressure, the Lakers got two power plays, neither of which it could convert because, again, Brothers goalie Gabe Vinal was in top form.
Then, when CBA/J-D got its first power play, it converted 9:55 into the first period when Zach Taylor, off passes from Lucas Relkin and Ryan Durkin, went low and put one past Lakers goalie Bennett Morse.
Vinal stopped all 11 shots he faced in that opening period, including a glove stop on Reece Eddy’s point-blank shot moments after Patrick Major missed the net on his breakaway attempt in the final minute.
Starting the second period a man down, the Lakers quickly killed off the penalty and resumed its attack, forcing CBA/J-D into a series of penalties, including a four-minute major on Adam Fontana that gave Skaneateles its best chance yet to get on the board.
Eddy, atoning for his earlier missed chance, converted an unassisted goal at the 11:18 mark to tie it, 1-1, but even with four total power plays in that period, the Lakers could not pull in front.
Yet just as the second-period horn sounded, Eddy took a hard hit from behind by CBA/J-D’s Lynch Raby near the boards. As Eddy needed some help skating off the ice, Raby got ejected from the game.
So Skaneateles had another four-minute power play to start the third period, and it didn’t waste the chance. Raymond Falso pounced on a rebound 1:36 into the period and put it home, giving the Lakers a 2-1 lead as Major and Owen Kuhns got credit for the assists.
Just as the penalty ended, though, Ryan Durkin broke through the Lakers’ defenders and skated with the puck toward Morse. Though Morse stopped the initial shot, Durkin converted the rebound with 10:57 left to tie it again, 2-2.
But that lasted all of two minutes. When Vinal was unable to hold on to the puck amid a scramble in front of his net with 8:58 to play, James Motyl backhanded in the rebound. Just 31 seconds later, another CBA/J-D turnover near the net led to Reggie Buell’s goal that Kuhns assisted.
Taking a time-out, the Brothers regrouped and, with 7:17 left, Taylor, off feeds from Durkin and Sam Mueller, cut the deficit to one. It would also get a power play when Falso took a holding penalty with time starting to wind down.
Morse made several big stops on CBA/J-D’s ensuing power play, and the Lakers kept its slim margin. Vinal got pulled with 1:17 to play, but even with the extra attacker, the Brothers could not capitalize, Skaneateles hanging on to get a shot at the state title it has waited a generation to regain.
