Maybe the Cicero-North Syracuse ice hockey team just needs a big stage to play at its best – or at least that’s what the early-season evidence shows.
A month after its dramatic overtime win over Baldwinsville in the Carrier Dome (the Bees hadn’t lost since), the Northstars went to the Syracuse Crunch’s home ice at the Onondaga County War Memorial and shut out Fayetteville-Manlius 5-0 on Dec. 26.
It was all part of the “Pink In the Rink” event, which raised money for the Carol Baldwin Research Fund, which promotes breast cancer awareness.
C-NS did come in on a roll, having smashed Cazenovia 6-0 on Dec. 23 at the Twin Rinks to get back to the .500 mark (3-3-1) following some early struggles in Division I National Conference play.
The Lakers could not get any shots past Carson Rutkowski, who recorded 17 saves. What helped Rutkowski relax was an attack that broke a 1-0 game open with three second-period tallies.
Matt Siegel, with two goals and two assists, led the attack, with Robert Mitchell also scoring twice. Mike Sciore added a goal and two assists, and Logan Field earned the other goal. Sutter Donegean stepped up with three assists as Connor Doren and Jacob Denblyker had two assists apiece.
Now it was on to the “Pink In the Rink” and the War Memorial, where the Northstars wanted to continue the struggles of an F-M side that hadn’t won yet this season.
The Hornets, thanks to good work in goal by Erik Badger (35 saves), did keep it 0-0 until C-NS, again, broke through in the second period, scoring twice before getting further away in the final period and wearing F-M down.
Sciore led the charge with two goals and two assists, with Siegel staying consistent as he got one goal and two assists, the same total as Donegan. Doren added one goal and one assist as Zach Matyasik and Dante Ianotti had one assist apiece.
