Skaneateles has gotten off to a 2-2 start this season but is still a team oozing with confidence heading into its Class C matchup Friday night against Bishop Ludden.

“Last game, we lost by two," senior Dom Caraccio said. "We felt like we were right there and we could have won that. And I think that's our mentality for every game coming up. We think we can win every game and we have a shot to knock off anybody.”

That optimism stems, in part, from head coach Jay Steinhorst. The former longtime Cazenovia head coach is in his second year at Skaneateles, and where he goes, success usually is not too far behind. Now, he’s looking to get the Lakers back to the top, and a win over Bishop Ludden would certainly be a big step toward that.

“We've just got to listen to him," Caraccio said. "He knows what he's doing. He's got good players, good offense. We just got to, you know, buy into it — which I think we all have — and really just follow him because he knows what he's doing. [The coaching staff] just makes it easy for us. We all know our responsibilities really well and they know how to explain it to us, and they're really helping us learn it.”

While the road hasn’t always been smooth, this year’s group of seniors are helping create a winning culture, Caraccio said.

“We've got a motto — it's just 'together,' " Caraccio said. "And, you know, we really embody that. Everything we do is together. I mean, come in here after practice or before practice in the summer. Everybody's really buying into it and they're really working hard.”

The Lakers’ journey continues tonight. A win on Friday would go a long way for a sectional playoff berth, but that playoff switch has not been turned on just yet.

“I think we're going to make sectionals, but we can't think about that," Caraccio said. "We've got to take every game one at a time and just buckle up. We got to buckle up.”