Inching back up to no. 9 in the latest state Division I rankings, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team stepped out of Division I play in the last week of January and suddenly found itself not just protecting a win streak, but also a shutout streak.
Since the third period of an 8-2 defeat to state no. 2-ranked Rochester McQuaid on Jan. 17, the Bees had not allowed a goal, blanking Watertown IHC (10-0) and Liverpool (3-0) before last Tuesday’s visit from Oswego.
In a game packed with fire and emotion, the Buccaneers made it difficult for B’ville’s attack, but like two previous opponents, it could not get on the board, either, in a 4-0 defeat to the Bees.
Devastating news struck the B’ville hockey family when Matt Monaco’s sister, Erica, was diagnosed with brain cancer. As a tribute, the players wore purple helmet stickers and put tape on their sticks with the number 44 on it, since Erica wears that number when playing hockey.
Determined to win one for the Monaco family, B’ville got on the board in each period, steadily building its margin while, again, playing superb defense. Whenever Oswego attacked, the Bees’ back-line players deflected pucks or saw goalie Matt Sabourin scoop them up, making 24 saves.
Offensively, four different players – Adam Tretowicz, Joe Glamos, Ben Dwyer and Charlie Bertrand – earned B’ville’s four goals. Glamos added an assist as Isaiah Pompo picked up two assists and Josh Racha added one assist.
On Friday night, B’ville visited Whitesboro, and while the shutout streak ended, the win streak reached four in a row, the Bees mostly using a big push in the second period to cruise past the Warriors 5-1.
Through one period, B’ville led 1-0, but over the course of the next 15 minutes it tore through Whitesboro’s defenses and converted on four unanswered goals.
Bertrand had two of those goals, with Monaco, Matt Abbott and Ryan Gebhardt also finding the net. Abbott and Kyle Lindsay each got two assists as Pompo, Glamos, Tretowicz, Matt Metcalf and James Pelcher put up one assist apiece.
With a comfortable lead, the question was whether a fourth straight shutout could be attained. And it almost happened – but Whitesboro’s Jo’Von Mucitelli beat Sabourin in the third period, the only blemish on a night where Sabourin stopped 21 of 22 shots.
The wins pushed B’ville’s record to 11-4-2 with just three regular-season games left, two of them this week. The Bees played Rome Free Academy Tuesday at the Morrisville State IcePlex and then return home Friday to face Cicero-North Syracuse, looking to avenge the overtime defeat to the Northstars at the Carrier Dome back on Nov. 21.