In the course of a week, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team’s prospects have gone from bright to a bit more questionable.
Two defeats in the Jan. 17-18 Ogdensburg Tournament left the Bees needing to recover in last Tuesday’s game against Liverpool, but instead it suffered its first loss to the Warriors in eight seasons as Dalton Horton led the Warriors past B’ville 3-1.
They had first played back on Dec. 3, with B’ville using a late goal to pull out a 4-3 decision. More than a month later, the Warriors were the hot hand, having gone 3-0-1 in its last four games and sneaking into the state Division I poll in the no. 14 spot.
And this game had real stakes. With 11 points, Liverpool was two points ahead of B’ville for second place in the Division I National Conference, and both still had a chance to catch first-place Rome Free Academy, with the Bees and Warriors both facing the Black Knights next week.
Despite the stakes, and despite the fierce rivalry the two sides share, the first period proved lethargic, as neither side could generate many scoring chances. However, Liverpool goalie Steven Kozikoski did stop Adam Tretowicz point-blank on a breakaway at the 5:30 mark.
It was still 0-0 when, early in the second period, the Warriors went on the power play. And here was where Horton started to take over as, at the 4:40 mark, he pounced on a rebound of Kyle Terzini’s shot while Bees goalie Nick Harper was still laying on the ice and poked the puck in the net.
Barely four minutes later, it was tied again, 1-1. B’ville, on its first power play of the night, worked the puck around until Matt Abbott, taking a feed from Adam Tretowicz, sent a perfectly timed pass to the doorstep of the net, where Garrett Gray easily converted before Kozikoski could get there.
Both sides entered the third period with renewed energy – and then Horton immediately took it away from the Bees. Just 22 seconds into the final frame, Horton, situated in front of the net, redirected Kody Gaulke’s pass and put in the go-ahead goal.
Not done yet, Horton returned to deliver an insurance goal with 4:50 play, this time passing from the wing to Gaulke, who scored. B’ville would earn a penalty shot with 1:01 left, but Kozikoski forced Gray to shoot it high over the net. All told, Kozikoski made 31 saves, eight more than Harper.
This led to B’ville’s rematch with the same Rochester McQuaid team that beat them 7-1 in the opening round at Ogdensburg exactly a week earlier.
Now it was Senior Night, and the Bees wanted to get closer to the Knights, which it did – but not by much, still absorbing a 5-1 defeat.
They did play on even terms in the first period, B’ville getting on the board with Tretowicz’s goal, assisted by Matt Metcalf. But McQuaid took charge with three unanswered goals in the second period and the Bees could not answer, Harper finishing with 29 saves overall.
Having fallen to 6-8-2, B’ville could still get a big win if it stopped first-place Rome Free Academy Tuesday night at Lysander before a Friday trip to the Twin Rinks to face Cicero-North Syracuse.
