All it took was 24 hours of good work by the CBA/J-D ice hockey team to leap into prime position to capture a Section III Division II playoff berth.
Due to weather postponements, the fifth-place Brothers and fourth-place Cortland/Homer would meet in a home-and-home series over the last two days of January, games that had a chance to dramatically affect the post-season race.
Sure enough, CBA/J-D pulled off a sweep, first taking out the Eagles 2-1 on the road Friday, then coming back to Onondaga Nation Arena Saturday to pull off a 3-1 victory in the rematch.
They first played in Cortland, where it remained 0-0 until the second period. There, Cam Sylvia put home one goal and assisted on the other, by Gordie Gehring, to give the Brothers a 2-0 lead. Deke Burns and Shean Lavin also earned assists.
From there, CBA/J-D had to hang on, as Matt Grimes put Cortland/Homer on the board in the third period. Bobby Morris stopped everything else, though, on his way to 25 saves for the night and a key win.
Beginning the weekend three points behind the Eagles, the Brothers were now within one point heading to the rematch — where, on home ice, it would surge into fourth place.
Matt Porter’s early goal had Cortland/Homer in front, 1-0. CBA/J-D tied it by the end of the second period, though, and raced in front down the stretch behind a well-balanced attack.
Gehring stayed hot, with a goal and assist, while Cam Sylvia and Josh Rathbun both scored, too. Ferris, Lavin, Nick Firman and Nick Papayanakos earned single assists as Morris again frustrated the Eagles, stopping 34 of the 35 shots he faced.
Now the trick for CBA/J-D was to hang on to fourth place, at least, in the last two weeks of the regular season, with Division II West’s top two teams, Corcoran and Solvay, both visiting the Nation Arena this week.
