Hockey teams from Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse both found themselves right at the break-even mark entering last week’s action, but would not stay there, thanks to the presence of the seven-time defending Section III Division I champions from West Genesee.
When the Warriors took its turn against the Wildcats last Monday night at Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena, it rarely got a chance to attack during a 2-0 defeat.
Much of the game was played in Liverpool’s end, and only the great work of Warriors goalie Steve Kozikoski, who finished with 35 saves, kept WG from a one-side romp.
Instead, WG had to settle for Ryan McDonald scoring one goal and assisting on the other, by Matt McDonald. David Procopio assisted on both goals and Grainger Sasso also had an assist. In contrast to Kozikoski’s hard work, Wildcats goalie Nick Skidmore only had to make eight saves all night.
Liverpool would turn things around on Friday night, getting a spectacular effort in the net from Kozikoski and also producing plenty of offense, too, in a 7-0 shutout over the Fulton Red Raiders.
During a scoreless first period, Fulton had chances to take the lead, but Kozikoski turned them away, eventually stopping all 38 shots he would encounter.
Fired up by his work, the Warriors broke the 0-0 deadlock with a three-goal second third and more than doubled that margin in the final period, led by Tom Bianchi, who had two goals and one assist.
Donny Husted also scored twice as Richie Hart, Nick Northrup and Tyler Garofalo each got single goals. Bobby Welch and Nate Bittel each got two assists, while Nate Dombroski and Kyle Terzini joined Hart with single assists.
But when C-NS met West Genesee that same night at Shove Park, it ended in a 10-1 defeat, the Northstars catching the Wildcats just as one of its top players, Derek Farrell, returned from an injury that had sidelined him since late November.
Farrell had a goal and two assists as WG led, 4-1, through one period despite Chris Schneid’s goal, assisted by Sutter Donegan and Dante Ianotti, that put the Northstars on the board.
The Wildcats pulled away as three different C-NS goalies (Carson Rutkowski, Eric Cummins and Chris Burger) combined for 24 saves. McDonald, Procopio and Jay Considine led WG’s attack, each of them earning two goals and two assists.
C-NS (5-6-1) returns to the Twin Rinks this week for games against Fulton and Mohawk Valley. Liverpool would get a visit from state-ranked Syracuse Wednesday before a Friday-night encounter with Baldwinsville at the Lysander facility they share.
