With a reasonable early slate of games, the Skaneateles girls soccer team had a chance to build up a strong record before plunging into tougher opposition that would start Sept. 20 against Westhill.
Two weeks before that, the Lakers, who went 1-1 in the Oswego Tournament on Aug. 30-31, met Chittenango in last Tuesday’s home opener at Hyatt Stadium, roaring out of the gate and doing all its damage early in a 3-0 shutout of the Bears.
A relentless attack that would eventually produce 16 shots would convert three times in a decisive first half. Tess Peterson had two of those goals, while Olivia Navaroli also found the net. Raenah Campbell and Olivia Dobrovosky had one assist apiece.
Meanwhile, a Skaneateles defense that had its fair share of struggles in Oswego got better in a hurry, limiting Chittenango to four shots, all of which Grace Kush stopped.
Going to Alibrandi Stadium two nights later, the Lakers faced Christian Brothers Academy, who had lost its opener 4-0 to Marcellus on Sept. 2. Again, Skaneateles would find itself in a back-and-forth, high-scoring contest, and again it could not gain the victory, settling for a 3-3 draw.
Much like in its Aug. 30 defeat to Fulton, Skaneateles had success penetrating CBA’s defenses, but also had difficulty stopping the other side. This was true in a 2-2 first half, and though things settled down, both sides still scored in the second half.
The pair of 10-minute overtime periods went without a goal, though, so the Lakers had to settle for seeing Campbell, Grace Buchholz and Riley Brogan put in goals during regulation. Jess Slack, Grace Hulslander and Sam McKenna countered for CBA as its goalie, Catherine Burns, made 14 saves, five more than Kush.
Now at 2-1-1 on the season, Skaneateles takes on Clinton and the combined Syracuse City team next week before the schedule cranks up with key OHSL Liberty division showdowns with the likes of Westhill and Cazenovia.