Though new to the post-season thing, the Cicero-North Syracuse ice hockey team quickly absorbed the lessons on how to perform under the highest amounts of pressure.
Two late goals, one of them short-handed, propelled the no. 3 seed Northstars past no. 6 seed Hamilton 4-2 Friday night in the opening round of the Section III Division I playoffs at Cicero Twin Rinks.
With that win, CNS (13-7-1) advanced to the Division I semifinals, where it will take on no. 2 seed Rome Free Academy next Tuesday at Kennedy Arena. The Black Knights beat Solvay 5-2 in its opening-round contest. Whoever prevails in the semifinal gets West Genesee or Corcoran in next Saturday’s sectional championship game at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The Northstars had routed Hamilton 6-1 in their only regular-season meeting Dec. 17 at Colgate University’s Starr Rink, but the Emerald Knights had improved in the ensuing two months and featured a lethal scoring threat in Alex Brink, who came into the game with 50 goals on the season, tops in Division I.
To counter Brink, CNS made sure a defender or two followed him everywhere, and for two periods that worked to perfection as Hamilton could not get on the board. Solid work in the net by Zach Hall helped, too, as the CNS goalie recorded 22 saves.
Matt Fiume put the Northstars ahead 1-0 in the first period on a goal fed by Brian Hamilton. From there, it remained scoreless until an exciting exchange late in the second period where Eric Hamilton converted to double CNS’s lead to 2-0, only to see the Emerald Knights answer six seconds later on Kam Mikula’s slap shot after Hamilton won the face-off.
Then Brink finally broke free, beating Hall for the tying goal early in the third period to tie it, 2-2. CNS appeared to have squandered all of the momentum, especially when, with under five minutes left in regulation, a penalty put Hamilton on the power play with a chance to move ahead.
Instead, Brian Hamilton made a steal and charged up the rink in a short-handed situation, his brother Eric trailing. Brian took a shot and Hamilton goalie Brady Carroll stopped it – but the puck got loose, and Eric swooped in to beat Carroll with the rebound to put the Northstars back ahead 3-2.
Stunned by this, the Emerald Knights could not do anything with the rest of the power play and, as regulation time wound down, Matt Kennedy flicked a shot past Carroll (who finished with 27 saves) to clinch the CNS victory.
The Northstars, when it goes to Rome, will look to avenge a 5-2 defeat to the Black Knights at the Twin Rinks on Jan. 8 as it aims to reach the sectional finals for the first time in the program’s brief history.
