Camillus — Perhaps no memory of the Baldwinsville ice hockey team’s run to a first-ever Section III Division I championship and a berth in last March’s state Division I final was as precious as the sectional semifinal game at Lysander Arena where the Bees, by a 5-0 margin, ended West Genesee’s seven-year reign.
Things were quite different when those two long-time rink rivals met again last Friday night at Shove Park in Camillus. Despite a tremendous effort from Matt Sabourin and the Bees’ defense, it could not keep the Wildcats at bay all night, taking a 3-0 defeat.
Both sides entered the game with 2-1 records, but right from the opening face-off WG put pressure on B’ville, spending long stretches circling the Bees’ net.
Each of those times, the Bees resisted, with Sabourin constantly making point-blank stops. Almost by himself, Sabourin kept the game 0-0 deep into the second period, stopping more than 20 WG shots as his team killed four different power plays.
But the Wildcats stayed patient, and with 2:53 left in the second period, Matt McDonald, working from the right point, took a pass from Stephen Anderson and floated a shot that got past Sabourin’s right shoulder and found the top left corner of the net. Dan Colabufo also got credit for an assist.
B’ville’s best chance came on a power play late in the second period, one of the few times it put sustained pressure on WG’s defense. But goalie Sammy Colabufo made several key stops, on his way to 12 saves for the night.
Sabourin, for his part, had 32 saves, and did everything possible to keep the game within range, but WG would finally put things away in a stretch of less than 90 seconds midway through the third period.
With 6:08 left, Garrett Schnorr’s shot deflected off Marshall Winn’s stick past Sabourin to make it 2-0. Just 1:16 later, WG converted on its fifth power-play try, Jeff Kopek getting the goal with an assist from McDonald.
So the Bees would have to wait until Feb. 2 to even things with WG when the two sides meet again at Lysander.
In the meantime, B’ville begins a long homestand on Tuesday against Fulton, whom it beat 7-3 in the Dec. 5 consolation game of the Bobby Conklin Tournament, followed by visits from much-improved Mohawk Valley on Friday and Watertown IHC on Dec. 22.