Cortland-Homer Trevor Jubran taking a shot during Monday's sectional finals game against Skaneateles (Ross Cohen/Cortland Voice)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In a well fought-out matchup at the OnCenter War Memorial Arena, the Cortland-Homer Golden Eagles lost to the Skaneateles Lakers, 4-1, costing them the Section III Division II hockey championship.
Skaneateles simply dominated the game, having a total of 37 shots on target while Cortland-Homer had 17. The Lakers kept possession throughout most of the game and won a majority of the takes on center ice to control the puck.
The Lakers took a comfortable 3-0 early lead five minutes into the first period, with junior Bauer Morrissey scoring the first goal two minutes into the game. About a minute later, senior Ryan Gick took advantage of a fast breakaway with no one in sight to increase the Lakers’ lead to 2-0. . Two minutes later, freshman Cam Lowe punished the net off an assist from fellow freshman Garrett Krieger, putting pressure on the Golden Eagles.
Desperate for a goal, Cortland-Homer senior Trevor Jubran scored off an assist from senior Josh Cargen in the seventh minute of the first period, giving the Golden Eagles a chance at a comeback.
As Cortland-Homer seemed to get back into the game, Gick struckagain off an assist from sophomore Cole Heintz five minutes into the second period, increasing the Lakers’ lead to 4-1.
Heading into the third and final period, Cortland-Homer went on full attack, with out of their 17 total shots on target coming in the last period, but it was not enough.
As expected, many players were emotional after this tough loss.
“It has been a great season,” said Cortland-Homer head coach Chad Totman. “We have done a lot of things we haven't done in the last 15 to 20 years. So this has been a great season and we had a lot of success. You can always look back and say I could this and that better. Certainly, emotions played into some of our play and our system is not just individual play. So I would say to keep our emotions in check.”
Skaneateles will host a state regional playoff game at 5 p.m. Saturday as they take on Grand Island from Section VI.
