All through the first full week of 2016, the Skaneateles ice hockey team found itself facing plenty of late-game stress, taking a close loss at Auburn and then nearly getting upended in the Duke Schneider Tournament before pulling out wins over John Jay-Cross River and Pelham.

Important as that was in terms of showing grit and determination, the Lakers, who rose to no. 2 in the state Division II rankings behind St. Lawrence, were eager to have a stress-free contest or two, especially since a rematch with Auburn loomed this Friday at Allyn Arena, as did a match with state Division I no. 1-ranked Syracuse.

Skaneateles got just what it wanted in last Tuesday night’s home game against Whitesboro, blitzing the Warriors in the first two periods and setting a season-high mark for goals in a 10-1 romp.

This was the same Whitesboro team that stunned state-ranked Clinton 3-2 a week earlier, but it never got close against the Lakers, who roared out to a 4-0 first-period lead and, not content with that, tacked on five more unassisted goals in the second period to make it 9-0.

Raymond Falso led this onslaught, earning a season-best four goals and adding a pair of assists. Luke Lynn chimed in, too, scoring twice, while Reggie Buell and Jacob Patalino finished with three assists apiece.

Devin Callahan, Reece Eddy and Dimitris Christou each gained one goal and one assist, while Matt Leveroni also scored. Marc Welch and Owen Van Holtz contributed single assists as, in goal, Kyle Oschner didn’t feel too much stress, but still stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.

A much tougher game loomed Thursday night, when Skaneateles went east to face state no. 6-ranked New Hartford, who was in a close battle with Auburn and Cazenovia atop the Division II National Conference Standings as the Lakers and Clinton did the same in the American Conference.

Once again, a road game proved problematic for Skaneateles, who already owned defeats at Clinton and Auburn and, now, had to rally just to force overtime with the Spartans and emerge from the battle with a 3-3 tie.

All looked fine in the first period, with Skaneateles bolting out to a 2-0 lead as Eddy earned one goal and assisted on the other, by Buell. But James Holmes got New Hartford on the board five minutes into the second period, and converted again just five seconds before the horn to pull even, 2-2.

Flush with that momentum, the Spartans moved out in front early in the final period as Jack Engdahl and Nick Ronan had joined Holmes in the goal-scoring column. Staying patient, Skaneateles resumed its attack and, with 1:09 left, saw Eddy convert to tie it and force overtime.

The extra period came and went without resolution, and neither of them controlled the flow of play, either. Bennett Morse faced plenty of heat as he recorded 27 saves for the Lakers, while his New Hartford counterpart, Tyler Hansen, played quite well, earning 31 saves. Falso got two assists as Patalino and Matt Benson had one assist apiece.

With a record of 10-2-1, Skaneateles gets to return home for the rest of January – four straight games in all. A Tuesday visit from Ontario Bay precedes the big games against Auburn and Syracuse and a Jan. 29 clash with Oswego.