Weeks of troubling play by the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team appeared to culminate Thursday night at Whitesboro, where in the second period the defense lapsed and the Lakers found itself trailing by two goals.
But in a turnaround from recent play, it was Skaneateles, and not the opposition, that would create the third-period surge as yet another scoring outburst triggered by Raymond Falso led to a 6-4 Lakers victory, perhaps its most important of the season.
Whitesboro, who with an 8-2-2 league mark had already clinched the Division II National Conference regular-season title, loomed as a possible Skaneateles opponent in the Feb. 25 sectional final at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
And the Warriors weren’t one bit afraid of the Lakers, overcoming an early 1-0 deficit when it netted three unanswered goals in the second period. Dakota Major, with two assists, anchored a Warriors attack where Matt Hajdasz, Noah Scranton, Andrew Maycock and Brandon Webb each would find the net once.
Trailing 3-1 going into the third period, Skaneateles faced its most important 15 minutes of the season. Either the doubts that had surfaced in recent weeks would grow into full-blown concerns, or the old scoring magic would return.
As it turned out, the latter happened, much to the Lakers’ relief. Falso kept getting open during that third period and either converted himself, finishing with two goals, or passed to others as he finished up with four assists.
Matt Benson and Reggie Buell both had a goal and two assists, while Dimitris Christou had one goal and one assist. Patrick Major contributed three assists as Ryan Gick got the other goal.
Two nights earlier at Allyn Arena against Cortland-Homer, all was going well, with the defense sharp and the offense producing enough to produce a comfortable margin. Or at least it seemed comfortable.
Storming back, the Golden Eagles found the net three times in that final period, and when the horn sounded, the Lakers were all too glad to escape with a 4-3 victory.
A week had passed since Skaneateles, on its own home ice, had surrendered a third-period lead in a 3-2 defeat to CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, the result of Ben McCreary scoring three times in that final frame, the last two of them in the final 90 seconds of regulation.
And this game started on that same path, with the Lakers registering the lone goal of the first period. Except in this case, Skaneateles would add plenty to it during the second period, blazing to a 4-0 edge.
Buell was in the midst of it all, scoring two of the goals and assisting on the other two, by Falso and Gick. Tyler Schneider joined Falso in the assist column. Only the work of Golden Eagles goalie Brandon Ludwig, who had 30 saves, prevented a blowout.
Instead of a safe margin, though, the Lakers found itself back in a defensive mode during the third period, withstanding Cortland-Homer’s all-out assault.
Twice, Mike Turck scored for the Golden Eagles, with Jon Frederick getting the other goal. Cooper Swartout earned two assists and Jake Prunier one assist, All of this nearly produced overtime, but the Lakers’ defense, anchored by goalie Chris Falso (23 saves), helped the hosts hang on.
This, plus the comeback win at Whitesboro, leaves the state Division II no. 3-ranked Lakers at 18-2 going into the Section III playoffs, which open Wednesday night when Cazenovia visits Allyn Arena at 7 p.m. The winner meets Auburn or Oswego in the semifinals, with the title game Feb. 25 at Syracuse’s War Memorial.
