All of a sudden, the West Genesee ice hockey team’s Friday-night clash with Baldwinsville at Shove Park carries a lot more meaning.
Credit much of that to the Bees, who moved past Fayetteville-Manlius into second place in Division I Tuesday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Hornets at Lysander Arena.
As that was going on, the Wildcats had its own task, for it needed to play well and not resort to the close calls (and one-goal margins) it had faced the week before, when it fought past Fayetteville-Manlius and Oswego.
WG found its elusive offensive touch at Auburn, steadily pulling away from the Maroons on its way to a 7-2 victory.
Leading most of the way, WG broke out of a 2-1 game in the second period with a trio of goals, then kept on going to make sure Auburn didn’t threaten.
Casey Schattner, with two goals, and Ryan Michel, with a goal and three assists, led a balanced Wildcat attack where six different players scored.
Erich Haney backed up his single tally with a pair of assists, as Ryan McConnell, D.J. Mazzoni and Adam King also converted. Zach Lewis and Brady Fremont earned assists, too.