It’s already safely established that the Cicero-North Syracuse ice hockey team need only worry about Rome Free Academy in the fight for Division I East regular-season honors.
No one else is offering a sustained challenge yet, and that included Ontario Bay, who was routed on it home ice by the Northstars last Tuesday night in a 12-0 decision.
This was not a case of a huge flurry, early or late. C-NS was steady, relentless and consistent, scoring four times in each period and taking 45 shots overall.
Eric Hamilton again proved the focal point, earning four goals and two assists to have a role in half of the Northstars’ scoring plays. By doing so, he made some history, passing Aaron Hildreth as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 139 career points, one more than Hildreth.
Nick Schneid helped out with three assists. Matt Siegel, Danny Rush and Luke Keyes each picked up two goals, while Devin Bronner and Kyler Schilling also got goals. A.J. Merola joined Siegel in the assist column.
Now the Northstars went north for an appearance in the Canton Tournament. It got underway on Friday with C-NS getting its second consecutive shutout, blanking the hosts from Canton in a 3-0 decision.
Hamilton started to stretch out his points record as C-NS grabbed a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period, and would tack on another goal in the third period.
Overall, Hamilton scored twice and assisted on the other goal, by Schilling. Matt Fiume would join Schilling in the assist column, and an underrated C-NS defense continued to dazzle, holding Potsdam to 13 shots, all of them stopped by Alex Johnston.
In Saturday’s final, C-NS went up against Potsdam and claimed the championship by putting together an historic second-period surge that led to a 9-2 victory.
Through one period, Potsdam held a 2-1 lead. But in the 15 minutes that followed, C-NS overwhelmed Potsdam’s defenses and recorded seven unanswered goals to decide matters.
Hamilton, named the tournament’s MVP, continued to build upon his school-record totals, putting up four goals and two assists. Fiume had a goal and three assists, with Curtis Howland scoring twice.
Siegel and Chris Schneid put up the other goals as Keyes, Merola, John Ratliff, Nick Schneid, Paul Ludden and Zach Sheridan earned one assist apiece. Johnston finished with 18 saves.
Having won five in a row since that season-opening defeat to RFA on Nov. 30, C-NS got to rest most of this week, but will return to action Friday night as it hosts Baldwinsville at the Twin Rinks, seeking its sixth straight win.
