At least in the early portion of the 2018-19 season, opponents of the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team had shown they can stay with the Lakers for a while, only to get subdued.
That changed, though, at the end of last week, when the Lakers, at the tail end of a two-game road trip, lost, 3-2, to Malone, its first blemish of the season after seven consecutive victories.
Malone’s defense kept Skaneateles off the board in the first two periods. Trailing 1-0 going to the third, the Lakers scored twice in that last frame, only to have Malone match it to stay out in front.
At home last Tuesday night, Skaneateles took on Clinton, and while it was close through the game’s early stages, again the Lakers showed it could pull away, earning its fourth shutout of the season by blanking the Warriors 5-0.
On one end, the Skaneateles defense faced plenty of pressure from Clinton, yet turned everything back, with Evie Sheridan again brilliant in the net, stopping all 24 shots she faced.
Meanwhile, it took a pair of goals in each of the last two periods for the Lakers to feel comfortable after a somewhat slow start, with Megan Teachout and Ioanna Christou at the forefront.
Earning yet another three-goal hat trick, Teachout worked her season total to 12, with Christou scoring twice to give her eight goals for the season. Feeding both of them, Lizzy Sachar earned three assists as Christou and Sophia Burns had one assist apiece.
Now the Lakers would go on the road, up north for back-to-back games on the weekend that started Friday against Saranac Lake,where it was shut down for long stretches, yet held on to win 2-1.
Both of the Skaneateles goals came in the first period, scored by Teachout, who got assists from Burns and Lizzy Sachar, but from there Saranac kept the Lakers off the board.
So it turned into a tense battle when a second-period goal cut the Skaneateles lead in half. Everyone on the Lakers’ defense had to step up – and they did, limiting Saranac to 20 shots and having Sheridan stop 19 of them.
This game may have taken a toll, for when Skaneateles faced Malone on Saturday it got tripped up. On Wednesday night, Skaneateles is back home to face Alexandria Bay, with a rematch to take place up north on Dec. 23 before the Lakers break for the holidays
