Ever since the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team squandered a four-goal, fourth-quarter lead to rival Marcellus on April 12, it waited for a second chance against the Mustangs.
When it arrived Tuesday night at Hyatt Stadium, the Lakers managed to put itself in the exact same situation, leading by four going to the final period.
But here, Skaneateles was able to close it out, dominating possession in the fourth quarter long enough that a late Marcellus charge only dented the Lakers’ eventual 13-10 winning margin.
They were both state-ranked – Marcellus at no. 15, Skaneateles at no. 22 – going into the game, and had similar records, with the Mustangs at 10-5 and the Lakers at 9-5.
What separated them, at least going into this night, was that singular comeback Marcellus pulled off a month ago, blanking Skaneateles in the fourth quarter and turning a steep deficit into a stunning 15-14 victory.
Every Lakers player remembered that night in Marcellus, and after some early struggles in the face-off circle in the rematch, began to dominate possession in the second quarter, which led to a pivotal run.
Trailing 4-3, Skaneateles rattled off five straight goals to end the half, taking advantage of man-up situations. In order, Jack VanSlyke, Reggie Buell, Pat Callahan and Sam Duggan all put shots past Marcellus goalie Dan Cusick.
Then, as the final seconds of the second quarter ticked off, Kyle Oschner made a point-blank save and sent a 70-yard pass downfield, where Buell caught it, turned and fired home a goal just before the horn to make it 8-4 at the break.
Even when Marcellus cut the deficit to 8-6 early in the third quarter, the Lakers responded, Devin Callahan scoring and Buell netting his third goal on a behind-the-back shot to restore the original margin.
Matt Goetzmann answered Riley Donovan’s goal 18 seconds after Donovan converted, which made it 11-7 going to the fourth quarter – a scenario nearly identical to April 12, in terms of the margin.
There would be no comeback, though. Helped by a string of Marcellus penalties and hustling to most of the ground balls, the Lakers not only clung to that lead, it expanded it to 13-8 thanks to goals by Duggan and Tristan Custer, which proved too much for Marcellus to overcome.
Buell finished with four goals and two assists. Duggan scored three times, adding an assist. John Danforth joined Custer, Goetzmann, VanSlyke, Pat Callahan and Devin Callahan in the scoring column and Reece Eddy picked up a pair of assists.
Just 24 hours later, Skaneateles would have to take the field again for its regular-season finale against Tully. And it turned into a personal showcase for Duggan, whose remarkable effort carried the Lakers past the Black Knights 14-9.
Even when Duggan continually solved Tully’s defense on the way to a 6-3 first-quarter lead, the Black Knights were not fazed, playing strong the rest of the half to forge a 7-7 tie.
Yet nothing was going to stop Duggan, who fired shoot after shot past Black Knights goalie Nick Martino and, when he didn’t do so, found teammates who would convert. It added up to a total of nine goals and three assists, the nine goals and 12 points both tying single-game school records.
Buell made sure Tully didn’t gang up on Duggan, managing his own three-goal hat trick and adding a pair of assists. Devin Callahan had one goal and one assist, with VanSlyke and Pat Callahan also earning assists. Oschner got seven saves as Nick Edinger (three goals) and Jon Lippert (two goals, two assists) led Tully’s efforts.
Compared to all this, the Lakers’ opener in the Section III Class C playoffs last Saturday amounted to a breather as the no. 4 seed Lakers rolled past no. 13 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 23-2, scoring 14 goals in the first quarter alone, which allowed for plenty of time for the reserves.
Amid the early deluge, Buell had three goals and two assists as Duggan, VanSlyke, Hackler, Goetzmann and Nick Wamp all finished with two goals. Bennett Morse and Devin Callahan each got one goal and one assist as Eddy, Ben Russell and Pat Callahan gained two assists apiece.
This sets up a quarterfinal Tuesday at Hyatt Stadium between the Lakers no. 5 seed CBA, who had its own easy first-round win over Lowville 21-2, but also got kicked around in a 15-7 loss to Skaneateles earlier this month. The winner of the rematch would get Cazeonovia or Tully in Thursday’s semifinal, with the title game May 28 at the Carrier Dome.
