LAKERS DEFEAT FLAMES, WILL LOOK TO THREE-PEAT

Section III’s Skaneateles Lakers are on the verge of a historic feat.

After a 4-2 win in the NYSPHSAA Division II semifinals over Section VI’s Williamsville East Flames at the LECOM Harborcenter on Saturday, the Lakers are in position to do something no other school has ever done in hockey – winning three state championships in a row.

It’s something that would mean quite a bit to Lakers coach Mitch Major and his players.

“Now that we’ve won, we've been in the last six out of nine state championship games and it's been a heck of a decade,” Lakers coach Mitch Major said. “The two years that we didn't have during COVID, we were undefeated, so I wish we could have had those two back but it's a testament to the great village of Skaneateles that we live in. 

“We're a hockey town. We have a beautiful facility. Kids are on the ice all the time, and they just love coming to the rink every day. So whether we win tomorrow or not, it's just been a heck of a run.”

Senior goaltender Danny Angelina, who made 42 saves, agreed.

“This is where you want to be,” Angelina said. “This is the dream. After we won states last year, I looked at my mom and I said, ‘I want to be back next year.’ This has been the goal for me, and I'm just happy to be here.”

After a first period in which there was no score, the second was where everything came together for the Lakers and everything fell apart for the Flames. About three minutes in, the Lakers struck first on a wrist shot by Tyler Calkins that barely trickled past Flames goaltender Jacob Sexton.

Beginning around the nine-minute mark, however, was a three-minute stretch where the Lakers truly asserted themselves. Kaden Rutledge converted on a three-on-one opportunity, Braedan Taggart scored on a wrist shot two minutes later and with 6:12 to go Rutledge added another goal to put Williamsville East in a four-goal deficit.

“We made a couple of mistakes in the second period – we had a bad line change on that three-on-one, we made a mistake and credit to a good team, they scored on it,” Flames coach Mike Torrillo said. “I thought we were a bit tired too. We didn’t have the same jump that we had earlier in the game.

“It was just stuff that we don't normally do. It’s unfortunate. If you take the second period away, we played fine but that’s why you’ve got to play a full game. Our goal is to win periods, but it turns out that we only won one today.”

After a timeout was called by Torrillo to stop the bleeding, his Flames responded with a pair of goals – one by Nathan Sucher in the second and another by Brody MacDonell midway through the third – to cut the deficit in half. But it wasn’t enough, as the Lakers were able to hold on for the victory.

“If you look at the way we did that, it was five guys working together up the ice, and we stayed connected,” Major said. “We lost some of that connectivity at the end of the second and in the third – I think that's a byproduct of all of a sudden looking up and saying, ‘Hey, we're up 4-0. Holy cow.’ But those three goals were really our system to a tee there, and they executed.”

It also helps to have great play in net, as Angelina’s rock-solid performance in net gave his team confidence.

“Danny's earned everything that he gets this weekend. He's come a long way,” Major said.

“His goalie coach, John Ives, has done a wonderful job with him and those two have really put the time in every day and every week. It's paying off.”

Angelina, who had 47 saves earlier in the year against the Flames, said his play came from staying loose going into the game.

“It's just a matter of relaxing, finding a way to smile and enjoying the time with my guys in the hotel and being able to go on the ice,” Angelina said. “Instead of this, we could be done but we're still playing. So I'm not over-thinking it or anything, I'm just enjoying myself and going along the ride.”

Up next for Skaneateles is Section X’s Ogdensburg, and not only will the Lakers be going for a three-peat but they will be trying to send Major – who is retiring after the season’s over – out on top.

“It would be everyone's dream,” Angelina said. “It would mean so much to Coach Major and it means so much to us. We want to give that to him, but we're not going to let that get to our heads. We just have to go out and play.”