SYRACUSE — Just four seniors occupy the roster on the West Genesee ice hockey team. One of them, Matt McDonald, anchors the defense, but he does a whole lot more – for which his fellow Wildcats are quite thankful.

In Thursday night’s showdown with unbeaten, state Division I top-ranked Syracuse at Meachem Rink, WG incurred its first deficit in more than a month, but thanks to McDonald, that was quickly erased, and then, late in the the third period, he delivered the shot that sealed a 3-1 victory over the Cougars.

“This win is a big momentum boost for us,” said McDonald.

For Wildcats head coach Frank Colabufo, the win was important on many fronts, but he said the biggest part was that his team showed resilience in the face of adversity.

“Our kids are gutsy and determined,” said Colabufo.

For weeks, the excitement for this lone regular-season meeting between the neighbors and rivals bulit up, for good reason. Syracuse was 11-0, and WG, at 11-1, was right behind them, occupying the no. 5 spot in those same state Division I rankings.

An overflow crowd circled the Meachem ice and got exactly the game they expected – closely fought and physical, which carried through a first period where both teams hit plenty, but neither got a penalty.

WG had most of the scoring opportunities in those first 15 minutes, but could not get on the board. Cougars goaltender Jake Polacek made several point-blank stops to keep it 0-0.

Then, just 43 seconds into the second period, Syracuse sneaked the puck into WG’s end and, from the point, Colby Skrupa delivered a knuckling shot that eluded Sammy Colabufo and crashed into the net.

It was the first time the Wildcats had trailed in any game since its lone defeat of the season Dec. 5 against Suffern at Shove Park, but that deficit didn’t last too long.

continued — Less than five minutes later, it was 1-1, and McDonald was responsible. Though he said that he didn’t possess the fastest or most accurate wrist shot on the team, this one from the left circle flew through a screen and past Polacek to tie it.

Quickly, WG picked up the pressure and forced a Syracuse penalty. Fifteen seconds into the power play, and just 1:31 after McDonald’s tying tally, Jeff Kopek followed up the rebound of his own shot and jammed home the go-ahead goal.

Now, though, Syracuse settled down on the defensive side, and kept the game 2-1 through the rest of the second period, successfully killing off another WG power play early in the third period to gain some momentum.

“They (Syracuse) are a very good team,” said Frank Colabufo.

By keeping it close, the Cougars earned a chance at getting even – which it got on back-to-back power plays in the middle stages of the final period.

Here, all the work WG has done on penalty kills paid off. Anchored by McDonald and fellow senior Conor Bartlett, the Wildcats’ defense kept Syracuse’s forwards on the perimeter, passing it around, but unable to get anything more than low-percentage shots.

Back at even strength, the Wildcats didn’t sit on its one-goal margin. Instead, with 3:37 left, McDonald, this time working into the right circle, sent another wrist shot through another screen crashing into the net for the clinching goal.

Aside from Bartlett and Matt McDonald, Colabufo heaped praise on his entire senior quartet, which also includes forwards Ryan McDonald and Steve Anderson.

“Our four seniors are tremendous leaders,” said Colabufo.

Originally, both WG and Syracuse were to tune up for the showdown by playing two nights earlier, but weather postponed Syracuse’s visit to Fulton, giving the Cougars a bit more rest following its Jan. 8-9 appearance in the Cicero-North Syracuse Optimist Tournament, where it held off CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt 4-3 in the finals.

continued — But the Wildcats did play at Shove Park against visiting C-NS, and weren’t looking ahead. Completely focused on the Northstars, WG unleashed an offensive barrage that ultimately proved too much for the visitors to overcome in a 5-0 shutout.

Much of the game was spent in C-NS’s end. All of the Wildcats’ pressure led to just a single goal in the first period, but it converted twice more in each of the remaining two periods and may have scored much more were it not for a superb effort from Northstars goalie Jack Doren, who had 44 saves.

Jay Considine and Ryan McDonald did figure out Doren, though, each of them scoring twice as Considine added two assists. Anderson earned the other goal, with Dan Colabufo, Matt McDonald, Chris Peer and Marshall Winn joining Ryan McDonald in earning one assist apiece and setting the stage for the trip to Meachem.

WG will look to follow up the win over the Cougars by taming Fayetteville-Manlius next Wednesday at Shove Park before a weekend trip to Massena and Canton. Syracuse, meanwhile, gets Mohawk Valley (at Kennedy Arena) and C-NS (at home) in back-to-back games next week.