Through temperamental weather and a few close calls, the West Genesee ice hockey team never got caught during the 2017-18 regular season – 19 opponents, 19 victories.
Just before that, the Wildcats finally reached the top of the state Division I rankings. It had stayed at no. 2 for nearly two months, but a series of ties by then-top-ranked Williamsville North allowed WG to climb in front.
But it wasn’t all great news because the weather again cropped up to interfere with the schedule, snow postponing last Wednesday’s game with Cicero-North Syracuse and moving it to Saturday night at the Twin Rinks.
Before that, WG would host Liverpool on Friday, and got off to a slow start before finding its rhythm midway through the game and ultimately blanking the Warriors 4-0.
Having not played in 10 days, the Wildcats slogged through a scoreless first period, only to score twice late in the second period to gain control, ultimately putting up 52 shots to Liverpool’s five.
Dan Colabufo scored twice, giving him 34 goals for the season. Ryan Washo and Mike McGuigan each had one goal and one assist as Patrick McDonald, Dan Holzhauer and Ryan Smith also earned assists.
So it hinged on the Wildcats beating C-NS Saturday to complete that undefeated regular season, and WG completed that task with plenty of style as it bashed the Northstars 9-2.
And there wasn’t a slow start this time around – in fact, WG matched its four-goal mark from the Liverpool game in the first period alone, eventually building a 7-1 margin through two periods.
Twelve different Wildcats earned a point and eight different players got goals, with Timmy Winn getting two goals and two assists. Washo, McDonald and Billy Fisher each had a goal and two assists, while Colabufo, Holzhauer, John Bergan and John Galimi all finished with one goal and one assist. Assists also went to McGuigan, Jimmy Bergan and Chris Kleburg.
