Like so many other times in the last two decades, the Skaneateles girls soccer team arrives in the Section III Class B playoffs knowing it would have to knock off Westhill or Marcellus if it wanted to climb all the way to the championship summit.
All of the other foes seem within grasp, though a busy final week of the regular season, which included four games in five days, would give the Lakers a good indication about its toughness, stamina and resolve before the post-season gauntlet.
Skaneateles ventured to Hannibal last Tuesday and pulled away to pummel the Warriors 6-1. Other than surrendering a first-half goal to Hannibal’s Alexis Cole, little went wrong as eight different players had a part in scoring plays.
And it was the Peterson sisters leading the way, with Maddie Peterson getting two goals and one assist as Tess Peterson earned one goal and two assists. Sarah Bailey, Sierra Sander and Angelina Reese also found the net, with Raenah Campbell, Olivia Dobrovosky and Grace Dower getting one assist apiece.
A day later, in a non-league game against Clinton, the Lakers fell to the Warriors 3-1. Campbell’s first-half goal, assisted by Dower, helped forge a 1-1 tie, but Emmeline McPherson took over in the second half, helping out on both goals as she scored once and assisted on tallies by Darby D’Angelo and Wiley Gifford.
Frustrated at that result, the Lakers went to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown less than 24 hours later and took out that frustration in a 6-0 shutout of the Rebels, matching its Hannibal goal total as Maddie Peterson scored twice, with Campbell, Dobrovosky, Olivia Navaroli and Mae McGlynn also finding the net.
The regular season concluded Saturday with a non-league game at Central Square that proved close all the way – but an early goal held up as the Lakers pulled out a 1-0 decision over the Redhawks.
Here was a game where the Skaneateles defense needed to step up, and did so. Once Grace Buchholz had netted her unassisted goal in the first half, the Lakers got nothing more against Central Square goalie Quinn Staats, who had 10 saves, but it limited the Redhawks to just three shots.
So Skaneateles carried an 11-4-1 record into the sectional Class B tournament, which produced a no. 4 seed in the 14-team sectional bracket. In Tuesday night’s opening-round game at Hyatt Stadium, the Lakers would host no. 13 seed Jordan-Elbridge, with the winner going to a quarterfinal against no. 5 seed Cazenovia or no. 12 seed Chittenango.
