All through the early portion of its schedule, the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team fought to stay consistent, at times succeeding in that venture, but other times finding it too difficult.
The Lakers were coming off back-to-back wins over LaFayette and Rome Free Academy when it went to Homer last Tuesday night and struggled in the snow during a 12-6 loss to the Trojans.
Homer reached the Section III Class C finals a season ago before a narrow defeat to Jamesville-DeWitt. Bent on turning that result around, the Trojans had started its season 5-0 and rose to no. 4 in the state Class C rankings, one spot behind J-D at no. 3.
Not only were the Trojans at home for this match, but the snow made it more difficult for the Lakers to adjust, and by the time it did, it trailed 4-0 at the end of the first quarter and were in catch-up mode the rest of the way.
Ultimately, the Skaneateles deficit grew to 10-4 by the fourth quarter, with John Danforth the only Lakers player to produce much as he got four goals and one assist. Pat Hackler and Nick Wamp each had one goal and one assist.
Though Scott Oschner finished with 13 saves, he had all kinds of trouble dealing with Homer’s Dylan Yacavone, who led his side with five goals and two assists. Dante Yacavone had three goals and one assist, with Tucker O’Donnell contributing two goals and three assists.
On Friday night, Skaneateles visited rival Marcellus and hit the halfway point of its regular-season slate. Looking to stay above the .500 mark, the Lakers instead were run over in a 14-5 defeat to the Mustangs.
Years of mostly taking lopsided defeats to its neighbors made the Mustangs hungry, and it tore through the Skaneateles defense throughout the first half, steadily working its way to a 9-4 lead.
Not content with that, Marcellus blanked the Lakers in the third quarter, extended its lead to 12-4 and settled matters as Matt Connell had three goals and two assists, with Gabe VanOrder getting two goals and three assists.
Emmett Barry also had a three-goal hat trick, with Matt Crysler and Luke Ingianni also converting twice. Liam Tierney and Robello Lobello each had one goal and one assist as Reich contributed three assists.
By contrast, the Lakers were quiet, only getting two goals from Castle as Hackler and Wamp both got one goal and one assist. Danforth had the other goal and Will McGlynn added an assist. Marcellus goalie Rob Seeley stopped 17 of the 22 shots he faced, with Oschner recording 11 saves.
And it would not get easier for Skaneateles as Westhill pays a visit to Hyatt Stadium Tuesday night before games Thursday against Chittenango and Saturday against Hilton (Section V).
