Somewhere, the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team was going to have to face defeat again. It just wanted to delay that inevitability for as long as possible.
Twenty-seven consecutive times, stretched out over two seasons and including a state championship, the Lakers not only won, but never even trailed in any of those 27 games, a feat even rarer.
All of that ended last Tuesday night, at Ithaca, where a potent attack got silenced and a defense so formidable for so long finally had a long-term lapse that led to a 4-1 loss to the Little Red.
Like so many others Skaneateles had beaten during the streak, Ithaca had only grown more determined to topple the Lakers the longer it went.
And the Little Red didn’t get discouraged when Campbell Torrey’s first-period goal, assisted by Megan Teachout and Sophia Burns, put Skaneateles in front 1-0.
Instead, the Ithaca defense turned back everything the Lakers threw at them, and more importantly, got to goaltender Jessica Smith as the Little Red netted three unanswered goals in the second period to move in front.
A late goal sealed it, and now Skaneateles headed toward a long holiday break, still posting a strong 8-1 record and now having the pressure of maintaining a long win streak off of them. The Lakers’ season resumes Jan. 3 at Oswego.
Ironically, the end of this remarkable run came on the same night that the Skaneateles boys ice hockey team may have reasserted itself as the team to beat in Division II once more thanks to an impressive 3-1 win over New Hartford at Allyn Arena.
Though the Lakers carried a four-game win streak into the game, it also had, at times, struggled on defense throughout the first month of the season, something it knew it would have to shore up somewhere.
Against New Hartford, Skaneateles put up its best resistance so far, closing off the Spartans’ attacking lanes and keeping them off the board until Tyler Penree’s third-period goal as Chris Falso stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced.
Meanwhile, the Lakers scored once in the first period and twice more in the second period to gain control. Owen Van Holtz had two of those goals, with Luke Lynn earning the other as Matt Leveroni got two assists. Charlie Russell, Patrick Moore and Jack Henry had one assist apiece.
