Given what had happened elsewhere, it was Syracuse that had benefited more than West Genesee from the 1-1 tie when the two sides squared off at Shove Park on Jan. 22.
Since the Cougars only had one tie in league play and the Wildcats two, as long as they both won out Syracuse would claim regular-season honors and the top seed for the Section III playoffs.
Thus, it was imperative for WG to keep on winning games against amped-up opponents, two of which it would deal with last week prior to Tuesday’s trip to third-place Baldwinsville.
The Wildcats went to Morrisville State College IcePlex last Tuesday night and, against a much-improved Cazenovia side, held on late to beat the Lakers 3-2.
Having gone 4-1-1 since an 0-8 start, Cazenovia didn’t let WG get away, though the Wildcats did battle to earn a 2-0 advantage through two periods thanks to goals by Joe McLaughlin and Andrew Schneid.
Cazenovia got on the board with John Dudrick’s goal with 11 minutes to play, only to have the Wildcats answer it when Patrick Quinn converted, the first goal of his varsity career.
Jake Owens kept things alive when he found the net with 1:30 left, but WG held on, despite Cy McCrink’s 24 saves as David Myers got 18 saves. Billy Fisher had two assists as Jeremy Keyes and James Schneid got single assists.
Back at Shove Park Friday night to face CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, the Wildcats again won a one-goal decision, but the way it happened made its 2-1 victory over the Brothers instantly memorable.
They traded first-period goals, Fisher converting for WG and Brackton Bowler converting for CBA/J-D off a feed from Kodi Dotterer, and it would remain 1-1 through most of the rest of regulation.
Buoyed by 20 saves from David Myers, the Wildcats pushed hard to break the tie, and kept at it until, just 0.5 seconds before it drifted into overtime, James Schneid put a shot past Brothers goalie Ethan White to win it. Felix, Colton Rainer and Jack Mellen each had one assist.
Syracuse didn’t return to action until last Thursday, when it went north and, against last-place Ontario Bay, breezed to a 7-1 victory over the Thunder.
Vern Cooke’s pair of goals proved a spark for the Cougars as Ryan Durand got three assists. Stephan Matro had a goal and two assists as Brady Hubbard got a pair of assists.
Other than two games it still has to make up, the Cougars would rest until meeting Cicero-North Syracuse and B’ville in the last week of the regular season on Feb. 11 and 13. After playing B’ville, WG is home Friday to face Ontario Bay.
