When the West Genesee ice hockey team enters the Section III Division I playoffs, it will do so as the undefeated, top-ranked team in the state — a title that has held throughout the winter.
A perfect, 20-0 run through the regular season was capped Tuesday night by the Wildcats returning to its stingy ways after a brief interlude, going to Casey Rink and beating the Auburn Maroons 6-0 for its 13th shutout of the season.
In fact, WG had shut out six straight opponents before Oswego broke that streak in a tense 3-2 victory on Feb. 5 at Shove Park. No doubt, the Wildcats wanted to restore order — and hurt Auburn’s playoff chances in the process.
As it had so many other times this season, WG bolted out in front in the first period, using a 3-0 start to establish complete control, then spending the rest of the night doubling that margin while nursing the shutout.
Nick Holzhauer, with two goals and one assist, led a well-balanced attack where Shawn Lynch, Erich Haney and Adam King each had one goal and one assist. Seamus Shanley also scored.
In addition to their usual defensive domination, Ryan Michel and Tim Bubnack each contributed a pair of assists. Casey Schattner, John Sabeet and Zach Lewis earned single assists. Anthony Militello only had to make 12 saves as WG took 43 shots of its own.
Solvay saw its season conclude last Tuesday with a 7-2 loss to Corcoran as its record fell to 8-10-2, just below the .500 mark.
The Cougars quickly took charge with four unanswered goals in the first period. The Bearcats didn’t get on the board until Nick Manobianco and Carmen Brienza converted in the third period. Matt Bishop earned 34 saves. Chris Domanski and Steve Young led Corcoran with two goals apiece.