Baldwinsville’s ice hockey team was tearing through the latter part of its regular-season slate, winning five games in a row by a combined 26-2 margin, climbing back to no. 7 in the state Division I rankings and staying in first place in the the National Conference.
Yet in the back of its collective minds, the Bees still carried the bitter memory of a long-ago defeat on Nov. 21 – namely, the 3-2 overtime loss to Cicero-North Syracuse in the first-ever ice hockey game played in the Carrier Dome.
So B’ville was quite motivated to get even with the Northstars last Friday night at Lysander, and it also happened to be Senior Night for five of its players – Matt Abbott, Andy Rossler, James Pelcher, Kyle Lindsay and Charlie McAllister.
Combine all of those emotions, and it created a red-and-white monster that C-NS had no chance to contain, as a deluge of goals in the first two periods led to a 10-1 blowout of the Northstars.
Any notion that this game would carry the tension and suspense of the Frozen Dome Classic quickly got dashed, B’ville surrendering a goal to Connor Doren in the first period, but still dominating the flow of play and constantly finding the net for a 4-1 lead.
Far from content, the Bees then blitzed C-NS again in the second period, continuing the parade of trips to the net, but also managing a shutout as the margin got to 9-1, well out of reach, Matt Sabourin working his way to stop 26 of the 27 shots he faced on the night.
Lindsay, Joe Glamos and Adam Tretowicz anchored the offense, each of them with three assists. Glamos scored twice, as did Charlie Bertrand, with Abbott, Lindsay and Pelcher scoring single goals, joining Josh Racha, Matt Monaco and Isaiah Pompo in that category. Abbott added a pair of assists as Monaco, Pompo, Alex Paterson-Jones and Andrew Starrentino earned assists of their own.
Before all that, the Bees, in order to stay in first place in the National Conference, had to go to Kennedy Arena last Tuesday night and beat Rome Free Academy. Thanks to Abbott’s production and another superb game in the net from Matt Sabourin, B’ville did so, beating the Black Knights 4-1.
All through the first two periods, RFA had a series of chances to get on the board. Each time, the Bees’ defenders turned them back, and Matt Sabourin made big stops, too, on his way to 23 saves.
Meanwhile, B’ville steadily built up a 3-0 lead, and Abbott was responsible for most of it, eventually netting a three-goal hat trick as Lindsay got two assists. Tretowicz earned the other goal, with Pelcher and Glamos getting single assists.
With a comfortable lead, the Bees tried to maintain the shutout, but Sabourin gave up his lone goal when J.T. Entelisano found the net in the third period.
Winners of six in a row following the rout over C-NS, the Bees (13-4-2) only have one more regular-season game left, hosting Mohawk Valley on Tuesday night.
In between B’ville’s pair of wins last week, the Division I American Conference regular-season title got decided when Syracuse beat West Genesee for the second time in as many week, the Cougars edging the Wildcats 5-4 in overtime at Shove Park.
What that means is that B’ville is likely to be lined up in the Section III Division I playoff bracket with West Genesee, but a potential semifinal (should each win their opening-round games) would be at Lysander. The title game is Feb. 28 at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
