When the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team had its game at Division II National Conference-leading Whitesboro postponed last Tuesday, it meant more time to stew about the team’s 4-0 defeat to state no. 1-ranked Pelham in the Jan. 7 final of the Duke Schneider Tournament.
The defeat did not change the Lakers place in the state rankings. It still was in the no. 2 spot, and were quite eager to demonstrate that the struggles against Pelham were a minor blip, and not the harbinger for a bigger crisis.
On familiar home ice Friday night, Skaneateles hosted New Hartford, and again its attack flourished, needing to be that way because the Spartans hung close for a long while before the Lakers prevailed 6-3.
New Hartford, in fact, scored first before Adam Lupo, taking his turn on the Lakers’ main line, would hit on back-to-back goals, each of them assisted by Raymond Falso, so the Lakers led 2-1 after one period.
It took just 10 seconds in the second period for Falso to find the net and make it 3-1, but Skaneateles was blanked for the rest of the period and the Spartans closed within one, 3-2.
Patrick Major briefly restored the two-goal margin with an end-to-end skate around the New Hartford defenders and finding the net with 11 minutes left, only to have the Spartans again close within one.
Not until Matt Benson, assisted by Falso, scored with three minutes to play could the Lakers keep its cushion, with Major adding another goal as he and Lupo both had one assist and Benson earned two assists. Tyler Schneider and Ryan Gick also found the assist column as Jack Engdahl paced New Hartford, scoring twice.
Meanwhile, the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team took its perfect 8-0 mark on the road, starting on Friday night with a trip to Plattsburgh and extending its win streak to nine in a row with a 7-0 shutout.
Four of those goals came in a decisive first period, and the margin kept growing from there as Megan Teachout finished the night with another three-goal hat trick.
Allison Weiss and Sophia Burns each had one goal and one assist, with Lauren Jones and Katie Halko each getting two assists. Sophia Kush and Campbell Torrey had the other goals, with Abby Kuhns adding an assist and Johna Halko stopping all 11 shots she faced.
What followed, in Saturday’s game against Beekmantown, was the Lakers’ closest call of the season, but it held on to prevail by a 3-2 margin.
Burns helped Skaneateles build a 3-1 lead through two periods, scoring twice and assisting on Teachout’s goal. Weiss and Katie Halko added assists as Beekmantown moved within one in the third period, but could not pull even as Maria McLean, taking her turn in goal, recorded 19 saves.
While the Skaneateles girls would face Potsdam and Alexandria Bay early next week, the boys Lakers, with its 11-1 record, would go to Ontario Bay on Tuesday before welcoming Auburn Friday night in a game that tends to draw an overflow crowd to Allyn Arena.
