On the grand ice stage that the Syracuse Crunch calls home, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team will be present Sunday afternoon, trying to dethrone West Genesee as Section III Division I champions.
The Bees earned the ticket to the Onondaga County War Memorial in front of the home fans last Saturday night at Lysander Arena, staging a gritty rally to beat Fayetteville-Manlius 2-1 in the semifinal round.
When they met in the regular season, B’ville beat F-M both times. In fact, the 4-3 decision on Feb. 10 made the difference between the Bees having to stay at home, or going back to Cicero Twin Rinks once more.
Of course, that home ice meant the Bees had to wait out Friday night’s snowstorm. As this was going on, West Genesee was ousting Liverpool 7-0, so everyone knew the Wildcats would be waiting once the Bees and Hornets were done with each other.
F-M, having never advanced to a sectional final before, grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period when Mason Richardson scored off assists from Matt Esposito and Ronnie Caputo.
From there, the Bees’ defense began to do a better job clearing out shots, though Nick Leader stayed busy and would need to stay sharp in a game where every goal was precious.
B’ville finally got on the board in the second period as Paul Schneid pushed the puck past F-M goalie Mike Poppleton, and it remained 1-1 well into the final period.
Sensing that the next goal might decide it, B’ville attacked hard, not letting up until Brad Burlingame flashed open and flung a shot past Poppleton.
All through the homestretch, F-M had chances to force overtime, but never got all the way as Leader turned away 28 of the 29 shots he faced. Poppleton had 31 saves. Connor Bertrand and Mark Belluci each got one assist.
This all leads to the final against West Genesee, a chance for the Bees to avenge two regular-season defeats and win the only meeting that matters.