For the West Genesee ice hockey team, only one ending on Senior Night was appropriate enough – namely, having one of those seniors put home the winning goal.
And that’s exactly what Nick Holzhauer did Wednesday night at Shove Park, converting just 43 seconds into the five-minute extra period to give the defending state Division I champion Wildcats a thrilling 6-5 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse.
Off a loose puck at the point, Holzhauer launched a backhand shot that eluded CNS goaltender Zach Hall and found the top right corner of the net, and within seconds all of the WG players were on the ice, celebrating as it clinched a fourth consecutive Division I regular-season title.
Yet everyone on both sides had a reason to feel proud when it was done. WG, ranked no. 3 in the latest state Division I poll, was happy because it prevailed, but the Northstars had to feel satisfied that it could skate with, and scare, the mighty Wildcats as the visitors twice erased two-goal deficits.
All of this started with the traditions of Senior Night as Holzhauer, Cody Ryan, John Sabert, Josh Duquette, Marisa McNamara and Ryan LaVallee were honored, along with their parents. Such rituals can often cause a team to lose focus – but not the Wildcats.
Just 2:09 into the game, Shawn Lynch tore up the right side, then went to the center and scored. Less than 90 seconds later, sophomore Nate Colabufo (son of head coach Frank Colabufo) earned his first Wildcat goal off a rebound of Holzhauer’s shot.
Finding itself down 2-0 in a hurry, CNS coach Kyle Bailey called the only time-out his team could take for the night. It worked, as 40 seconds after the time-out Matt Kennedy put the Northstars on the board – the first goal WG had allowed since Jan. 18 against Cortland-Homer, a span of six-plus games and nearly five hours of total ice time.
Fired up by this, CNS tied it, on Eric Hamilton’s short-handed goal midway through the first period, and moved ahead 3-2 less than two minutes later when Brian Hamilton converted on the power play.
So it remained until the first intermission, which WG used to refresh itself. Then it quickly erased that rare deficit as Duquette tied it 3:05 into the second period and Holzhauer, previewing his later heroics, used a power-play tally to put the Wildcats ahead 4-3.
CNS kept the margin at one the rest of that frame as Hall sparkled in the net. But just 11 seconds into the third period, Robbie Michel hit a rocket slap shot from the right point, just inside the blue line, that found the top left corner and made it 5-3, the sort of goal that might lead to a getaway against a lesser opponent.
Not the Northstars, though, as it cut the margin to 5-4 when Eric Hamilton successfully finished off a three-on-one break with 12:44 to play. As the minutes wore on, WG again tried to put things away, and again Hall made a series of fine stops.
Time was running low as Hall was pulled, giving CNS an extra attacker. Moments after this happened, with 54.4 seconds left in regulation, CNS’s Kyler Schilling fluttered a shot from the right point that bounced off Brian Hamilton’s stick and past Jake Pelton, and it was tied, 5-5.
The tie would not last long. Right off the OT face-off, the Wildcats attacked hard and kept the puck in the Northstars’ end, the pressure leading to Holzhauer’s clinching shot – and a chance to bask in another title.
Now WG will rest, for nine days, before hosting the first round of the Section III Division I playoffs next Friday at 7:30 at Shove Park against an opponent yet to be determined. With the top seed, the Wildcats would also host a possible semifinal, with the sectional championship game set for Feb. 26 at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
