It was all turning around for the Baldwinsville ice hockey team, just in time to deliver another notable road victory in the semifinal round of the Section III Division I playoffs.
Once down by a pair of goals to defending state champion Syracuse last Wednesday night at Meachem Rink, the Bees had pulled even, and had all the momentum needed to either get it to overtime or perhaps even win outright.
But the Cougars were not interested in fulfilling its role in B’ville’s fairy tale, spoiling the Bees’ dreams by converting late and edging the Bees 3-2.
This was, indeed, a rematch of the 2019 sectional semifinal that Syracuse won on its way to the state title. More relevant was that, when these same two sides met at Meachem two weeks earlier, the Cougars had blanked B’ville 4-0.
But B’ville did remember that it beat Syracuse in another 3-2 decision back in the Dec. 7 final of the Bobby Conklin Tournament and, perhaps bolstered by that past knowledge, it played the Cougars to a first-period scoreless draw, its defense continuing to show its season-long improvement.
Syracuse appeared to get control in the second period thanks to Ryan Durand, who twice put shots past Bees goalie Brad O’Neill, each goal assisted by Kaleb Benedict, as the Cougars’ shutout streak against the Bees continued, the score 2-0 with one period left.
A minute into the third period, though, Ryan Dickinson broke the Bees’ skid, cutting the deficit in half on a goal assisted by Luke Hoskin.
Then, when Hoskin took a pass from Alex Pompo and put the puck past Alex Moreno with 6:39 left in regulation, it stood at 2-2.
But ust when it looked like B’ville had a chance to equal its 2018 predecessors that won an epochal semifinal at unbeaten West Genesee, the Cougars put in a furious final charge.
It culminated with Tommy Rioux, off passes from Luke Dwyer and Nelson Jones, beat O’Neill for the game-winner with three minutes to play, the Bees unable to respond even with an extra attacker as time wound down.
O’Neill finished the night with 34 saves, while Moreno stopped 22 of B’ville’s 23 shots and earned a rematch of the 2019 sectional final against West Genesee, who topped Fayetteville-Manlius 4-1 in the other semifinal.
