Bring the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team to Utica Memorial Auditorium, and great things tend to happen.
Two years after claiming both Section III and state titles on Utica ice, the Brothers reclaimed the sectional Division II championship Saturday afternoon with a 4-0 victory over state no-1-ranked Skaneateles.
“We really feel comfortable in this building,” said CBA/J-D head coach Mike McKie.
Led by Zach Taylor’s hat trick and goaltender Gabe Vinal’s 25 saves, the Brothers managed to pull off what it couldn’t do in two hard-fought regular-season meetings – conquer the Lakers, and do so with room to spare.
Unlike many other sectional finals, this one was not an elimination game. Regardless of which team prevailed, both CBA/J-D and Skaneateles had already advanced to the state Division II tournament. But the winner would get to be at home for the regional finals, and that was motivation enough.
Each side started with caution, but as the first period wore on, Skaneateles got the better of the flow of play, putting consistent pressure on the Brothers’ defense. But Vinal was up to it, stopping all nine shots he faced.
Meanwhile, CBA/J-D was patient with its own attack until a 39-second outburst late in the opening period quickly produced a 2-0 advantage.
Taylor got it started at the 13:17 mark, taking a pass from Sam Mueller and jamming at the puck amid a scramble in front of the Lakers’ net until it trickled past Skaneateles goalie Garrett Morse.
Before the Lakers could respond, at the 13:56 mark Connor Flanagan stretched the Brothers’ margin to two, taking Cole Fowler’s pass from the right side and poking it into the net.
CBA/J-D didn’t add to that 2-0 lead in the second period – and didn’t have to, because Vinal was spectacular.
Three different times in that period, the Lakers had power plays. Every time, CBA/J-D killed them off, a combination of defensive tenacity and Vinal turning back a series of point-blank chances.
“Gabe was unbelievable,” said Taylor. “We can count on him everywhere we go.”
All told, Vinal made 11 saves in that second period, and other times Skaneateles missed the target, too, including a point-blank look by Raymond Falso late in the frame that flew over the net.
Every CBA/J-D player remembered, though, that the Lakers trailed by a 2-0 margin in their last meeting Feb. 6 in Nedrow and rallied to win 3-2 in overtime. So it kept attacking, and with 8:25 left, Taylor, on the power play, ripped a shot from the left slot past Morse, with Mueller and Tanner Coleman earning assists.
The Brothers’ defense never let Skaneateles answer, holding them to five shots in the third period. And Taylor added an empty-net goal with 1:11 left to complete his hat trick.
Next weekend at Onondaga Nation Arena, CBA/J-D will host the Section V champions in the regional finals. Whoever wins reaches the state “Frozen Four” March 14-15 – in Utica, a place the Brothers know and like quite well.