For the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team, forgetting about last season’s 3-16-1 struggles was not the best option.
Instead, the Hornets resolved to do better on all fronts for 2011-12, and maybe that method is working, as F-M started its season last Friday night with an 8-2 romp over Watertown IHC.
As in years past, the Hornets are a constant road team, playing all “home” contests at Cicero Twin Rinks, sharing the ice with two other Division I teams, Cicero-North Syracuse and Central Square.
Yet F-M is not in the same division as either of its co-tenants. A split in Division I leaves the Hornets in a tough West division with four-time defending champion West Genesee, Baldwinsville, Liverpool, Corcoran, Cortland-Homer and Solvay, while CNS and Central Square join IHC, Hamilton, Ontario Bay and Rome Free Academy in the East division.
Playing IHC on Friday at the Twin Rinks, the Hornets worked its way to a 2-1 lead through one period before taking charge in the second period with three unanswered goals.
Right to the end, F-M kept producing, as Cooper Holick got half of his team’s goals (four) and added an assist.
Anthony Angello also had five points, scoring twice and piling up three assists, while Trevor Chase also had three assists to go with his single goal. Tommy Doucet added one goal and one assist, with Tim Mallouf contributing an assist, too.
F-M opens league play against Solvay at the Twin Rinks on Wednesday, followed on Friday by a match against Liverpool at Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena in Lysander – where the Warriors have moved its home games after leaving the State Fair Coliseum.
