CENTRAL NEW YORK – The Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team hoped that the momentum built up by blanking Auburn 6-0 in its Nov. 27 opener carried over into its appearance at West Genesee’s Ice Breaker Tournament at Shove Park.
And it would do so, though it took two games for it to happen and the second of them would feature a landmark victory over reigning two-time state Division II champion Skaneateles.
Granted, the Hornets caught the Lakers coming off a draining 4-2 loss to West Genesee the night before, but playing with energy and confidence from the opening face-off to the final horn F-M not only won, it handled the Lakers by a 5-2 margin.
Jack Lalik’s pair of goals and Tyler Mayne’s goal and two assists led the charge. Drew Mayne contributed two assists, with Nico Capriotti getting a goal and assist and Will Sanzone tacking on a goal.
Even with all of F-M’s success on offense, the defense had to work hard turning back plenty of Skaneateles chances, but did so with blocks and 26 saves from goaltender Sean Lamarche.
F-M was only facing Skaneateles because it lost 3-2 in last Tuesday’s opening round to Syracuse, the two sides going back and forth in the first two periods before the Cougars broke a 2-2 tie in the third.
Capriotti and Dimitry Sergeev earned the goals, with Tyler Mayne, Connor McDonald and Gavin Patnode earning one assist apiece. Lemarche finished with 21 saves.
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Now turning to its own early-season tournament, F-M got it going Friday at Cicero Twin Rinks with a dominant performance against Section II’s Bethlehem, ultimately earning a 6-1 victory over the Eagles.
Only Lalik scored twice on the Hornets’ side. Capriotti, Sanzone, Connor McDonald and Drew Mayne also netted goals, with Tyler Mayne earning two assists. Greyson Mucha, Henry Dougherty, Asa Black, Brian Tonkovich and Jack Schalk had one assists apiece.
Moving to Saturday’s final against Thousand Islands, F-M trailed 1-0 after one period before a big second period produced a lead and the Hornets held on late to prevail 3-2.
Twice in that second period Sanzone found the net, with Lalik earning the other goal. Gavin Patnode grabbed a pair of assists as Capriotti, Noah Chen and Dimitry Segreev also had assists. Each of sean Lamarche’s 18 saves proved important.
Having split its first two games of the season Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt was determined to start building a win streak as the calendar turned to December.
In last Tuesday night’s home opener at Onondaga Nation Arena the Brothers faced Auburn and battled to its own 5-2 victory over the Maroons in its only action of the week.
Pacing a well-balanced attack, Griffon Filighera scored twice and added an assist. Ryan Hayden and Henry Boynton both got one goal and one assist.
Paul Brown produced his first goal in a CBA/J-D uniform, with Logan Novak, Chase Price and Grady Shanly gaining assists. Strong in goal, Justin Buffum turned back 24 of Auburn’s 26 shots.