CENTRAL NEW YORK – Having taken back-to-back defeats to Cortland-Homer and Skaneateles, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team’s first chance to break that skid was thwarted due to a postponement of the Feb. 20 game with Fayetteville-Manlius.
But the Bees were on the ice again last Monday night, at Crisafulli Rink (better known as The Fort), where it took on Oswego and saw its attack roar back to life in a 6-2 win over the Buccaneers.
Taking charge early, B’ville led 3-1 after one period. Then it continued to add to that margin over the course of the last two periods while its defense mostly contained whatever Oswego tried to establish.
Sam Ciappa went to the forefront, giving the Bees a three-goal hat trick plus an assist as Alex Pompo, Luke Hoskin and Mike Marsallo each got two assists.
Single goals went to Fernando Moreno, Theo Wiseman and Keegan Lynch as Matt Fawwaz, Matt Carner, Brayden Penafeather-Stevenson and Reese Gilmore got single assists. Leo Legault played in goal and recorded 13 saves.
Two nights later, B’ville met Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt at State Fair Coliseum, returning as a hockey venue this winter as both the Brothers and Liverpool are calling it home.
And the Brothers would edge the Bees 3-2 in a tight, hard-fought contest where, for the Bees, Pompo earned one goal and assisted on Carner’s tally, while Marsallo earned two assists.
Negating the 23 saves put up by Legault, CBA/J-D saw Kodi Dotterer have a part in all three of his team’s goals, scoring once and assisting when John Greenwood and Nate Christaldi found the net. Also, Joe Salvador turned away 27 of B’ville’s 29 shots.
At Cicero Twin Rinks Friday night, the Bees faced Cicero-North Syracuse, and once more B’ville showed it could rebound from a defeat, containing the Northstars in a 3-1 victory.
Emmit Porter’s first-period goal put C-NS in front 1-0. From there, though, the Bees’ defense stymied the Northstars, giving the other side time to catch up.
Patiently, B’ville’s attack worked until it tied the game in the second and scored twice more in the third period to win it as Lynch and Carner both finished with a pair of assists.
Three different players – Pompo, Ciappa and Cole Schuyler – gained those three goals. Marsallo contributed an assist. Jon Schirmer stopped 18 of C-NS’s 19 shots.
So the Bees sat at 5-3 going into Monday’s lone regular-season encounter with rival West Genesee at Shove Park, which preceded a Wednesday game against Auburn and a Friday to Three Rivers Athletic Complex visit from powerhouse Skaneateles, whom it lost to 5-0 back on Feb. 18.