At least one mission is accomplished for CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt’s ice hockey team.
By defeating Whitesboro 6-1 in Wednesday night’s Section III Division II semifinal at Onondaga Nation Arena, the Brothers assure itself a place in the state tournament, regardless of what happens in Saturday’s final against state no. 1-ranked Skaneateles at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
No doubt, the Brothers caught a break when Whitesboro stunned New Hartford 2-1 in overtime in the Feb. 20 opening round. Not only had CBA/J-D lost at New Hartford during the regular season, it had also gone through an easy opening-round game with Clinton and was far more rested than the Warriors, whom it beat 4-0 at Nedrow on Jan. 22.
Still, the rematch with Whitesboro didn’t prove easy at the outset, the two sides trudging through a 0-0 first period where CBA/J-D took 11 shots, but got none of them past Warriors goalie Tim Evans.
All of that started to change three minutes into the second period. Once Tanner Coleman put in a dazzling goal and got the Brothers on the board, much more followed as, three minutes later, Ryan Durkin fed Connor Flanagan for the second goal. Then CBA/J-D made it 3-0 on Lucas Relkin’s power-play tally late in the second period, assisted by Durkin and Zach Taylor.
Less than a minute into the third period, Durkin got his turn in the goal-scoring column, Coleman and Sam Mueller earning the assists. In a five-on-three situation with 12:18 left, Taylor converted and Relkin assisted, with Mueller getting his turn for the final goal midway through the period, Ben McCreary getting the assist.
Though Whitesboro’s Ryan Suwek did break up the shutout, scoring with two minutes to play, Gabe Vinal turned everything else back, finishing with 22 saves, assuring both a berth in the finals and a state tournament bid, too.
Even if, from a technical standpoint, the season is not on the line Saturday in Utica, CBA/J-D burns both to win the sectional title and get back at Skaneateles for making that late-game comeback Feb. 6 at Nedrow to win 3-2 in overtime and ruin the Brothers’ Senior Night festivities. The Lakers had to rally again in the third period to get past Auburn 3-1 in the other sectional semifinal at Allyn Arena.
