During the last full week of January, the Fayetteville-Manlius and CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey teams would both have to confront reigning state champions.
And it was the Hornets that would make the most noise, nearly knocking off unbeaten Division II state champion Skaneateles last Thursday night at Allyn Arena before taking a 5-3 defeat to the Lakers.
To say the challenge was a steep one for F-M may have understated it since Skaneateles entered the night 12-0-1, had only allowed one goal in its previous four games and had sat atop the state Division II rankings all winter.
Yet F-M was tough from the outset against the Lakers, keeping its potent attack quiet for most of the first period until Charlie Major scored at the 11:31 mark.
And the Hornets erased that deficit early in the second period on Spencer Sasenbury’s goal, assisted by Mike Hockenberger. Less than two minutes later, Jackson Denton converted and F-M had a 2-1 lead.
That held up until the third period when Skaneateles, who hadn’t trailed much in games all season, found its prime form.
Cole Heintz tied it early in the period and, with 9:49 left, Heintz struck again to give the Lakers a 3-2 edge. Barely two minutes later, Drew Henderson made it 4-2.
Not making it easy, Sasenbury returned to hit on his second goal with 5:35 left, but Garrett Krieger tallied a late goal to clinch if for the Lakers.
F-M goaltender Konrad Walburger made 20 saves, with Will Duncanson earning an assist. Charlie Russell gained three assists to anchor the Skanateles attack.
A day earlier, the Hornets had won a key league match-up with Fulton, taking out the Red Raiders 4-1, where Ben Hammond secured his 100th career point.
Hammond put in three goals for a hat trick and assisted on Josh Kuchinski’s tally. Sasenbury got three assists and Kuchinski two assists as Denton and John Manzi also had assists.
As for CBA/J-D, its big task was facing Division I’s defending champions, Syracuse, on the heels of the Cougars’ own first-place showdown against West Genesee two nights earlier that ended in a 1-1 tie.
From start to finish, the Brothers put up a fine effort, making Syracuse work all the way to the final horn before takinga 4-2 defeat.
Simon Lesser earned one goal and assisted on Alex Binsack’s tally, with Finn Wheeler, Justin Thies and John Greenwood also getting assists.
Between them, goalies Joe Salvador and Manuel Pineda made 22 saves, but the Cougars still won as Stephan Matro paced Syracuse with two goals and one assist.
Back on Tuesday, CBA/J-D got a 5-1 win over Liverpool, steadily building a 3-0 advantage through two periods and getting great work in goal from Joe Salvador, who stopped 25 of the Warriors’ 26 shots.
Lesser led the attack and produced the first three-goal hat trick of his high school career, with Kodi Dotterer getting three assists.
Tanner Burns had one goal and one assist, with Hudson DiNapoli also finding the net as Greenwood got two assists and Wheeler had one assist.
In this week’s action, CBA/J-D would play just once, hosting West Genesee Friday night, this after F-M would play three times in four days against Mohawk Valley, Watertown IHC and Cicero-North Syracuse.
