Glad that the snow stopped, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool ice hockey teams were able to resume their neighborhood rivalry amid the Northstars’ Opitmist Touranment.
The showdown took place last Friday at the Twin Rinks, and it was C-NS emerging on top thanks to an offense that struck often in the early stages and then protected its lead on the way to beating the Warriors 5-3.
During the first period, the Northstars three times put shots in the net, and then made it 4-1 early in the second period as Braylen Tuff took his turn earning a goal.
That was enough of a cushion to withstand Liverpool’s late comeback, with goaltender Jordan Miller solid most of the way, stopping 28 of the Warriors’ 31 shots.
Carter Wisely’s pair of goals paced a deep, balanced C-NS attack, with Nick Sciore earning three assists and Tyler Murray getting a pair of assists.
Nick Tangretti and Braden Porter joined Tuff with single goals as Aidan Long, Holden Sarosy and Matt Cramer got single assists.
For the Warriors, the three goals came from three different players – Cole Broughton, Matt Gagnon and Xavier Springer. Marco Palumbo, Connor Boland and Dylan Husted each had one assist.
This followed a first-round game where Canandaigua overwhelmed Ontario Bay 9-0, and the Braves, meeting the Northstars in the championship game on Saturday afternoon, proved too tough here, topping C-NS 7-3.
Liverpool, meanwhile, rebounded to rout Ontario Bay 7-1 in the consolation game, with Springer at the forefront thanks to his three-goal hat trick, plus an assist.
Boland earned two goals and one assist, with single goals going to Gagnon and Broughton as Gagnon got two assists. Ellie Grinnals and Cory Grinnals had one assist apiece.
C-NS is back on the ice Jan. 4 to host Ithaca, this after Liverpool would take on Cazenovia next Monday at Lysander Arena before a rematch Jan. 4 with Ontario Bay.
