SKANEATELES - Over the last three years, Clinton has been the hurdle that the Skaneateles boys hockey team couldn't jump.

On Wednesday, the Lakers finally made it past the Warriors with an amazing 3-2 Section III, Division II semifinals victory. Skaneateles (20-4-2), who is the No. 1 seed in Division II West, will play the Division II East top seed, Whitesboro (20-3-2) in the sectional finals at Utica Memorial Auditorium at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Lakers haven't played in the finals since 2004, when they lost 3-2 to Solvay. In Clinton.

Now, the route to a championship will have nothing to do with the Warriors, despite a performance that proved why they were seeded second in their eastern division.

“They're just a class organization,” Skaneateles coach Mitch Major said of Clinton. “Once again, they made it very interesting at the end for us and once again, it was a battle of two hockey programs that have been around for a long time. I think the game lived up to its history and I think everyone here enjoyed the game tonight. I didn't, but I think everyone else did.”

In front of a packed crowd at Allyn Arena at the Skaneateles Community Center, the home team fell behind early, but held on when it counted. With a 3-1 Skaneateles lead late in the game, the Warriors' Chris Snyder scored on a scrum in front of the Lakers' net and goalie Alex Richichi, who played a solid game, lost the puck and it squirted inside. After a Matt Wood penalty, the Lakers found themselves with five seconds to burn to get the win, but not before a face-off just feet away from the Lakers' net.

“We were concerned, because we had to get that puck,” Lakers' forward Keith Buehler said. “Matt Wood made a great play even though it was a penalty, it killed a lot of time off the clock.”

Buehler made a great play himself when he took the face-off and trapped the puck against the wall to secure the Lakers' victory.

“It wasn't much of a concern because with five seconds left, we've got Keith Buehler taking a face-off for us,” Wood said. “He's probably one of the most reliable people on the team. He stepped it up big for us.”

When Steven Abdoo scored on a power play off a pass from Kyle Foley just 2:27 into the game, Skaneateles found itself in an unfamiliar spot - behind. The Warriors didn't come close to scoring on a power play for the rest of the game, though.

“That was right off a draw,” Major said of the first goal. “It went back to the point, they fired one off and they got a rebound. It was a really good hockey goal. I think what we did well afterwards was play a solid team box and we kept them to the outside and we blocked their shots.”

While two Buehler goal in the second period energized the Lakers and gave them a lead, it was a Wood score in the third frame that ended up being the game winner. The senior defenseman found a rare opening against Clinton goalie Ryan Bassett and scored on the end-around with 2:07 remaining in the third period.

“I wish I could say it was skill,” Wood said. “But it was all luck. I saw left, so I shot left and right then, it went in.”

Buehler scored the tying goal on a power play off of a Tory Cole pass 2:20 into the second. He then put the Lakers up for good on a breakaway score 6:33 later.

But even though the highest scoring team in Section III is accustomed to finding the net, taking an abundance of shots is not the norm for Skaneateles. The Lakers were able to seep through the Warriors defense, relentlessly peppering Bassett with 42 shots. The senior goalie was a wall, recording as many saves, but it wasn't nearly enough as Clinton managed just 27 shots in return.

“I don't think you ever expect to shoot a puck over 40 times in a game,” Major said. “One of the things that we needed to do that we learned from (quarterfinals opponent) New Hartford is to get the puck in the net more. I think we did that, but their goalie played excellent - he lived up their nickname of him. The kid's a warrior. He should be very proud of himself because he played very well.”

Clinton had a difficult time getting through the Lakers defense, but when they did, Richichi tallied 23 saves of his own.

“Alex didn't make all-league this year and we had a nice talk about how stats are stats, but this is what it's all about,” Major said. “His job is to keep us in the game and that's just what he did. I think he showed a lot of people tonight that he's one of the best.”

The Lakers defense did the same when they, led by Wood and Erik Stevens, showed no signs of fatigue when the game was on the line late.

“It was my good friend Erik Stevens and our other players stepping up,” Wood said. “Ryan Callahan and Lex Johnson, too - it wasn't just one person on the defense, it was all four of us. We sucked it up for the last five minutes and played them straight.”

After the celebration, Skaneateles exited the ice with the usual bumps, bruises and even stitches for some. None of it seemed to matter.

“All this pain goes away because this is such a great rivalry,” Wood said. “They've beaten us the last three years. I'm a senior now and they've beaten me all the way up. It just feels great to finally knock them off for once.”

Now, the state-ranked Lakers have one more win to earn before they finalize what has already been a magical season. They haven't played Whitesboro this season, but the two teams combined have won their last 18 games and both are undefeated on the road. With a slightly better record going in, Whitesboro will be the home team.

Not that it matters much.

“We just need to keep working,” Buehler said of the Lakers' upcoming task. 'We need to keep playing our game and not get rattled by anything that happens.“