Amid a stretch that included eight games in 12 days and tournaments on back-to-back weekends, it was almost inevitable that the Skaneateles boys soccer team would find its level of play affected by the grind, even against two of its biggest rivals.
Marcellus, a team the Lakers defeated 3-0 on Sept. 16 at Hyatt Stadium, got even on its home turf nine days later, taking things to double overtime before prevailing 1-0.
Skaneateles arrived at Marcellus a tired team, having played twice in the previous two days at the Wright National Soccer Complex in Oneonta, where it had a 0-0 draw with Clarke and took a 2-0 defeat to state Class A no. 15-ranked Goshen. Both of Goshen’s goals came in the first half as Evan Goldman and Luke Peterson combined for seven saves.
But Marcellus was playing its third game in five days, and eventually would fight its own fatigue, but in the meantime it played superb defense throughout 80 minutes of regulation and one 10-minute OT periods blocking all of the lanes and protecting goalie Sam Laduke, who only had to make five saves.
Though it got more chances, the Mustangs kept seeing Skaneateles goalie Evan Goldman (seven saves) stop them – at least until the second OT period, when Nick Distefano flashed a shot past Goldmann and into the net for the game-winner.
Perhaps the Lakers ould accept this result if it rebounded two nights later and won another big showdown, this one with Westhill, the two sides having settled nothing in a 1-1 draw at Hyatt Stadium earlier in the month.
The rematch proved even better, a back-and-forth struggle with all kinds of chances on both ends and a clutch conversion by the Lakers that led to yet another OT – and yet another defeat, this one by a 3-2 margin.
Tristan Custer, off a great feed from Reggie Buell, used a sharp shot from the right side to quickly give Skaneateles a 1-0 edge, but six minutes later a foul inside the 18-yard box led to a penalty kick that Bernat Carbonell converted.
Carbonell returned late in the half and, taking a pass from Braeden Elmer, poked a touch shot past a charging Goldman, which gave Westhill a 2-1 halftime lead. It stayed that way through much of the second half, too, the Lakers getting plenty of opportunities, but stymied by Warriors goalie Antonio Scrimale, who accumulated six saves.
Scrimale could do nothing, though, when with 36 seconds left in regulation the Lakers’ Gabe Konieczny sent a corner kick to the middle that bounced around until Custer ripped a shot to the top of the net, forcing the game to OT.
That overtime lasted all of 95 seconds, enough time for Carbonell to charge down the right side, reach the corner and cross it high to Elmer, who struck a perfect, hard shot that Goldman had no chance to stop as it crashed into the net for the game-winner.
A day of much-needed rest followed, but then it was back to action for the annual Finger Lakes Cup at Hyatt Stadium, which commenced Friday night as Skaneateles took on St. Francis, from Buffalo and dominated from start to finish in a 6-0 shutout of the Red Raiders.
Already with a 2-0 edge by halftime, the Lakers wore down St. Francis as Custer and Reggie Buell both found the net twice. Dylan Viscomi and Jon Metz both finished with one goal and one assist, while Matt Neumann and Max Moss both earned assists of their own.
A day later, Skaneateles took on another Buffalo-area school, Canisius, and even though it had every excuse (non-league game, cumulative toll of so many games in so short an amount of time), the Lakers still played at its best in the second half to beat the Crusaders 3-1.
The two sides were tied, 1-1, at halftime, but over the course of the last 40 minutes Skaneateles took over, and Buell had much to do with it, scoring two of the Lakers’ goals and assisting on other, by Justin McClanahan. Neumann picked up a pair of assists.
All of this left the Lakers at 7-3-3, and it had another game Tuesday at Fulton before Skaneateles got a week of much-needed rest and practice to regroup and refresh before the end of the regular season and its Section III Class B title defense.
