Having already met once, the West Genesee and Solvay’s ice hockey teams deliver their rematch next Wednesday night at Shove Park in Camillus.
In the lead-up, both the undefeated, state no. 1-ranked Wildcats and Bearcats were to have Division I West encounters against Fayetteville-Manlius.
Bad weather kept F-M from its encounter with Solvay Friday at Allyn Arena in Skaneateles – but two nights earlier, WG took care of its face-off with the Hornets, surviving fierce, physical play and pulling away late to a 7-1 victory at Shove Park.
F-M came into the game with a 6-3 record and a potent front line of Anthony Angello, Cooper Holick and Trevor Chase. Yet the Wildcats’ lights-out defense, after surrendering a scoring chance in the opening seconds, shut down the Hornets the rest of the first period, holding them to one shot.
One of those defenders, Robbie Michel, put WG on the board with a power-play goal 5:20 into the game, but the Wildcats didn’t add to it until the 4:16 mark of the second period, when Jimmy Sauda won a faceoff and slid the puck to Tommy Hanley, whose quick wrist shot zipped past F-M goalie Ben Napierala.
It appeared that WG was getting away when Shawn Lynch scored, short-handed, at the 8:52 mark of the second, but F-M’s Ryan Amidon answered on the power play a minute later to make it 3-1.
If the game turned anywhere, it did so minutes later, when Angello’s hard shot from the left side clanged hard off the right post. An inch or two to the left, and WG only leads by one, and the latter stages get more suspenseful.
Instead, nursing that 3-1 margin in the third period, the Wildcats started to get away when Tinklepaugh crashed the net and put home his own rebound with 7:41 left. Erik Kurz converted on a slap shot less than three minutes later, with Tinklepaugh and David Procopio also finding the net in the late going.
This followed, by 24 hours, WG’s 7-0 romp at Ontario Bay last Tuesday night, where it seized a 6-0 lead by the end of the second period on the way to its eighth shutout of the season.
Shawn Lynch and John Skrupa each finished with two goals and one assist. David Procopio had a goal and two assists, while Jason Keyes and Jimmy Pelton both put up one goal and one assist. Erik Kurz, Jon Lauer, Robbie Michel and R.J. Tinklepaugh each had one assist.
With the margin so lopsided, head coach Frank Colabufo got to use his entire roster. Senior Max Barone got a turn in goal and, with eight saves, earned the shutout.
Friday’s weather postponement for Solvay was ill-timed, as it needed a win after going to Baldwinsville last Tuesday and taking a 3-2 loss to the Bees.
Through two periods, Solvay trailed, 1-0, but got on the board in the final period as Will Downs scored and assisted on Forrest Gilbert’s tally. Kyle McVey and David Graf had assists, too.
Still, B’ville matched the Bearcats’ late production and overcame goalie Ryan Bonk’s 33 saves, the same number as Bees netminder Chris Johns. Dan Strodel, Justin Neman and Matt Zandri earned the B’ville goals.
