During this truncated regular season, the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team has seen plenty of close contests, benefiting in some instances, but not in others.
With a chance at a big win last Monday night, the state Class C no. 20-ranked Lakers went after no. 5-ranked Westhill last Monday night and outplayed them for long stretches, but a quiet second quarter proved costly in a 10-9 defeat to the Warriors.
Westhill, who had risen as high as no. 3 in the state rankings before a 7-6, triple-overtime defeat to Cazenovia on April 14, took over after a 3-3 first-quarter deadlock. Winning face-offs and controlling possession, the Warriors steadily accumulated four unanswered goals.
Trailing 7-3 at the break, Skaneateles responded well, puncturing Westhill’s strong defense during a 5-2 third-quarter push. But during a tense final period, both sides would make mistakes, and the one goal the Lakers got was not quite enough.
Sam Duggan still finished with three goals and one assist. Jack VanSlyke and Graham McCarthy each got two goals and one assist, while Alex Dunn and Cullen McGlynn had the other goals.
Defensively, Kyle Oschner recorded five saves, but Westhill countered with a well-balanced attack that had seven different goal-scorers. Casey Rogers, with three goals and one assist, and Ryan Zimmerman, with two goals and three assists, were the only ones with multiple tallies, and Dan O’Connell made seven saves.
Another road test awaited against a state-ranked opponent on Friday, Skaneateles visiting no. 16-ranked Homer, but this time able to get out in front and preserve a slim lead most of the way as it defeated the Trojans 9-8.
Skaneateles grabbed a 3-2 edge by the end of the first quarter. Then both defenses took over the rest of the half, the Lakers saving another surge for the third period, where it again scored three times and doubled its margin, to 7-5.
Still, Skaneateles had to hang on down the stretch, doing so because its defense was consistent and tough, never letting Homer put together any kind of sustained run as Kyle Oschner was superb in the net, recording 10 saves.
Again, Duggan paced the Lakers’ attack, scoring four times and adding an assist, with Dunn picking up three goals. McGlynn had a goal and two assists as Devin Callahan earned the other goal. Reece Eddy and Owen Kuhns had one assist apiece.
So Skaneateles would take a 7-3 record into Wednesday night’s showdown with Cazenovia, looking to avenge an 8-6 defeat to those other Lakers back on April 2. The Lakers are back home to face Jordan-Elbridge Friday at 7 p.m.
