Year after year, the Skaneateles boys lacrosse program has turned out strong talent that has found success at the college level – with Kevin Rice a prime example as he netted four goals, including the game-winner, in Syracuse’s 11-10 win over Notre Dame last Saturday at the Carrier Dome.
As Rice and his SU teammates celebrated a much-needed victory, his alma mater was getting ready to make its 2014 debut, a tough assignment against Class A contender Baldwinsville in the first portion of the weather-shortened Finger Lakes Shoot-Out.
Originally set for both Friday and Saturday, the tournament was altered by bad weather. As a result, Skaneateles would play B’ville and Marcellus would face Auburn on Saturday, with the other games played at a later date yet to be deteremined.
Right after Marcellus rallied past Auburn 11-10, getting the game-winner on Ross Filtch’s goal with less than a minute left in regulation, Skaneateles took the field, and it would get on the board – but not until the second half, and by that point the Bees were well on its way to beating the Lakers by a score of 15-7.
Coming off a 2013 campaign where it fell to Westhill in the sectional Class C quarterfinals, the Lakers had to replace 10 departed seniors, including Ryan Higman, Alex Brownlee, Steve Bright, Jack Fabrizio and Gunnar Beck-Andersen.
With so many new faces in the lineup, the Lakers struggled to find any rhythm in the first quarter – and B’ville took full advantage, roaring out to a 6-0 lead. Those struggles continued the rest of the half as Skaneateles found itself trailing 10-0 at the break.
Finally, the Lakers got on the board in the third quarter, but it was too large of a deficit to overcome, despite two goals from Cullen McGlynn.
Connor Hill and Josh Kuhns each had one goal and one assist, with Tyler Strods and Jack Dawley netting the other goals. Kyle Oschner picked up 15 saves as B’ville got three goals from Steve Petrelli and two goals apiece from Jake Anderson, Billy Hamm, Cody Luke and Mitch Rein.
Skaneateles hosts Chenango Valley on Monday and then meets LaFayette on Thursday night before visiting another Class A opponent, Fayetteville-Manlius, on Saturday afternoon.
