The Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team, still looking for a victory in the 2014-15 season, took part in the annual “Pink the Rink” fund-raiser when it faced Cicero-North Syracuse Dec. 26 at the Onondaga County War Memorial, just prior to the Syracuse Crunch’s game against Albany.
Here, the Hornets hung tough for a while, but lost, 5-0, to the Northstars, who broke a scoreless tie with a pair of second-period goals, and then tacked on three more in the final period.
Erik Badger, playing the entire game in the net for F-M, made 39 saves. Still, he couldn’t keep everything out, as Mike Sciore led C-NS with two goals and two assists.
Only when the Hornets went on the road to the Capital District in the last days of 2014 did the win finally come – and even that took overtime, F-M beating Bethlehem 5-4 Monday afternoon to end its nine-game skid.
All through regulation, the Hornets and Eagles traded goals, but in OT it was F-M breaking the 4-4 tie with the game-winner as Trevor Pokines finished off an effort that included a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist.
Will Healy and Tommy Guilfoil had the other goals, with Erik Badger and J.P. Ciappa serving as the catalysts, delivering three assists apiece. Each of goalie Kwame Morris’s 23 saves would prove important.
Now F-M looked for back-to-back wins as, 24 hours later, it faced Shaker-Colonie. This proved a very different game, but thanks to a career-best performance from Morris and a single well-timed scoring play, the Hornets pulled it out by a 1-0 margin.
All through the first two periods, Shaker-Colonie fired on F-M’s net. Every time, Morris gathered it up, continuing his shutout through the rest of regulation and recording 45 saves overall.
That supreme effort was rewarded when, in the third period, F-M got a rare opportunity in front of Shaker-Colonie’s net – and Pokines, off passes from Badger and Ciappa, ripped one into the net that proved the game-winner.
Granted, this only improved F-M’s mark to 2-9, but it came home feeling a lot more confident about itself, something it would need against Division I National Conference leader Baldwinsville next Tuesday at Lysander Arena before heading back to its home ice at Cicero Twin Rinks Jan. 9 to face Liverpool.
