Through most of last Wednesday night’s girls soccer showdown between Skaneateles and Marcellus, the two rivals had engaged in a tense standoff, which hurt the visitors because the Mustangs had scored early in the first half.
Late in the game, though, the Lakers had a chance to pull even, the ball finding Tess Peterson wide open at point-blank range. Yet the shot wasn’t a pure strike, and Mustangs goalie Kendal Koloski dove to grab it, a move that ultimately preserved the game.
This 1-0 defeat gave Skaneateles plenty of encouragement, though, for it had stood up for most of the 80 minutes against a Mustangs side it has rarely defeated in recent years.
The only goal came 14 minutes into the first half. Marcellus had a throw-in near the Skaneateles net, and the ball got to Anna Vetsch, who turned around and hit a high, hard shot that flew over the head of Lakers goalie Grace Kush and found the net.
Kush allowed nothing more, earning 13 saves, and got lucky when the Mustangs’ Taylor Reich flung a shot off the post that could have doubled the Mustangs’ lead to 2-0. Meanwhile, the Lakers had its fair share of chances, getting none of it eight first-half shots past Grace Coon.
Kendall Koloski took over in the net during the second half, and Skaneateles attacked her, too, The best chance came when Peterson got that open look, but did didn’t get a full hit on the shot, allowing Koloski to dive and stop it, one of her seven saves.
After absorbing this defeat, Skaneateles prepared for Saturday’s game against a Chittenango side that had beaten Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and Chittenango by a combined 13-0 margin during the week, with Sarah Martin scoring seven goals for the Bears in that span.
But the Lakers contained Martin long enough to build a 3-0 halftime lead, eventually prevailing 4-2 as Martin did score twice in the second half, but couldn’t match by herself the superior Skaneateles depth.
Peterson, atoning for her near-miss against Marcellus, notched two goals here, with Ry’ley Pascal and Grace Hilpl also finding the net. Shay McCarthy and Claire Raddant picked up assists as Kush gained six saves.
At 5-4 on the season, the Lakers would go to Jordan-Elbridge Monday and then visit CBA on Wednesday night before ending September with a Saturday home match against Phoenix.
