While at times it’s proved quite difficult, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse ice hockey teams have both enjoyed nights where it could not stop putting the puck in the net.
For the Northstars, it was dropping 15 goals on Ontario Bay Jan. 26. And for the Warriors, it lit up in last Monday night’s game at Lysander Arena, where big spurts early and late led to a 10-3 romp of the Lakers.
In a game made up from a Jan. 24 weather postponement, Liverpool wasted little time, roaring to a 4-1 lead by the end of the first period. Cazenovia tried to hang on, but the Warriors wore down the Lakers’ defenders and found the net five times in the third period.
Through it all, Tyler Dorval kept piling up points, finishing the night with four goals and two assists. Jeff Gentile emerged to earn a career-best four assists as Bobby Welch finished with two goals and two assists.
Jack Irwin and Connor Boland both had one goal and one assist. Dan Laurenti and Tommy Bianchi earned the other goals, with single assists credited to Ashley Decker, Pat Langlois, Matt Galanti and John Coggiola. Getting his turn in goal, Adam Bleiweiss stopped 17 of the 20 shots he faced.
Liverpool took another road trip Wednesday night, to Rome’s Kennedy Arena, where it met Mohawk Valley and saw its defense pushed around from start to finish during an 8-5 defeat to the Raiders.
Despite its 3-12 record entering the game, Mohawk Valley, clinging to slim playoff hopes, played with desperation, and constantly broke through the Warriors’ brittle defenses, with one line doing most of the damage.
Hunter Mazur paced the Raiders, piling up three goals and three assists. Noah Lamie had a three-goal hat trick of his own, plus an assist, as Henry Froass got the other two goals and tacked on an assist, too.
For Liverpool, Irvin scored twice. Dorval and Welch notched goals as Bianchi, Laurenti, Gentile, Coggiola and Carson Ferguson got one assist apiece, but many other chances were thwarted by the work of Mohawk Valley goalie Michael Eastman, who stopped 40 of the 45 shots he faced.
Things didn’t get better for Liverpool at Shove Park Friday night when it lost, 8-2, to state Division I no. 6-ranked West Genesee. The Wildcats kept the Warriors off the board until the second period, by which point WG had a 5-0 lead, cruising the rest of the way behind the work of Jay Considine, who picked up a three-goal hat trick.
Bianchi and Dorval earned late goals for the Warriors as Welch, Boland and Nick Northrup earned one assist apiece. Sebastian Jesmore made 36 saves.
C-NS met Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday night in the “Pink the Rink” event to support breast cancer awareness, and it turned into a tense, exciting contest that the Northstars, by getting out front early, were able to pull out in a 4-3 decision over the Hornets.
Things were close from the outset, but C-NS inched into a 2-1 lead by the end of the first period. No matter what it tried, F-M could not pull out in front, notching single tallies in each of the last two periods, only to have the Northstars answer on both occasion..
Jacob Den Bleyker scored two goals and Matt Cramer earned three assists. Logan Field had one goal and one assist as Dante Iannotti earned the other goal.
Karl Farber, with one goal and one assist, led a well-balanced Hornets attack. Ben Hammond and Mikkal Tola had the other goals, while Tavish Day, Britton Smith, Tommy Guilfoil and Will Healy had one assist apiece. Brandon Heyman, in goal, recorded 19 saves, three more than C-NS counterpart Jack Doren.
Home again on Friday night, C-NS met Rome Free Academy, knowing that a win gave it a chance to pull into second place behind Syracuse in the Division I National Conference and a chance at a first-round home game in the Section III playoffs.
And the Northstars pulled it off, beating the Black Knights in a tense 3-2 battle where C-NS got the lone goal in the first period and then both sides scored twice in the second period,
Field had a part in all of it as he delivered two goals and assisted on the other, by Cramer. Josh Ludden got two assists as Den Bleyker and Logan Ungelich had one assist apiece. Despite that, the Northstars’ defense still needed a third-period shutout to preserve the win, Doren working up his total to 19 saves.
With its 10-8-1 record, C-NS is guaranteed a winning regular-season record, but can go after more in Wednesday night’s regular-season finale at Ithaca. The sectional playoff pairings and brackets are announced on Sunday.
