Recent history for the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team has included two Section III titles and a state Division II championship, with ample spent at or near the top of the state rankings.
But when the Brothers hosted its neighbors from Syracuse Tuesday night at Onondaga Nation Arena, it was the undefeated Cougars who sat in the no. 1 spot in the state Division I poll, knowing that, despite its 1-3-1 record, CBA/J-D would give them a battle.
And that’s exactly what happened, the two sides both playing stout defense, but the Brothers bending just enough to take a 2-1 defeat.
By far, CBA-J-D’s toughest test came in the first period, when it was put into a defensive mode by swarming Syracuse forwards who unloaded 12 shots to the Brothers’ three, but only converted once.
CBA/J-D started to unleash its own offense with nine shots to the Cougars’ five in the second period and tied it, 1-1, on Adam Fontana’s rebound goal, with assists credited to Ryan McGuire and Grayson Burns.
For the first time all season, Syracuse found itself tied going to the third period, but broke that tie early in the final frame as a reliable face, Matt Eccles, netted the goal. The Cougars twice had to kill off CBA/J-D power plays in the middle of the period, and then hang on again in the final seconds when the Brothers pulled goalie Peyton Bowler for an extra attacker.
Tuning up for Syracuse, the Brothers got a much-needed win on Dec. 18 against Oswego, who came to Nedrow and could not generate much against a strong all-around effort by CBA/J-D, who prevailed by a 4-1 margin.
It was Skate Night, with an Alumni Game before the main event and a chance for fans to skate with the team after the final horn. At least spectators did so with a happy group of Brothers after it shut down Oswego.
Ben McCreary quickly put CBA/J-D in front of the Buccaneers, finding the net just 90 seconds into the game. McGuire’s goal made it 2-0 midway through the period, but Oswego cut the margin in half on Tim Woodard’s goal with 10.1 seconds left in the period.
That was all Bowler would allow, part of a terrific effort in the net where the CBA/J-D goalie turned away 25 of the Bucs’ 26 shots, and even assisted on one of his team’s goals.
It helped Bowler to have a cushion, something the Brothers established in the second period as McGuire and McCreary both scored again. Grayson Burns earned two assists, with single assists also going to Adam Carpenter and Adam Fontana.
As CBA/J-D battled Syracuse, Fayetteville-Manlius visited Auburn, but had the misfortune to pick the worst possible time to face the Maroons, who let out all kinds of anger in defeating the Hornets 11-1.
Auburn, in its previous game on Dec. 18, had blown a three-goal lead to Cazenovia in the final minutes and taken a brutal 5-4 defeat, its first of the season. Needless to say, that didn’t sit well with the Maroons, who against F-M made absolutely sure a similar disaster didn’t happen again.
Moving toward double digits, and then past that mark, Auburn saw 10 different players earn points, led by Jacob Morin, who had three goals and one assist. Kaiden Tubbert got a goal and four assists, while Matt Hesse found the net twice. John Malandruccolo and Brendan Williams each had a goal and two assists.
Before this, F-M had played Cicero-North Syracuse in the Twin Rinks facility they share on Dec. 18, and it proved tight, going all the way to overtime before the Hornets lost, 4-3, to the Northstars.
Though F-M led 2-1 through one period, it saw C-NS pull even, and then an exchange of goals followed in the third period before the Northstars claimed it in the OT session, led by Logan Field, who had one goal and assisted on the other three goals, two of them by Zach Matyasik.
On the Hornets’ side, Trevor Pokines found the net twice, with Matt Colagiovanni earning his first goal of the season. Tommy Ryu, Will Healy, Ben Marshall, Zack Wisby and Garrett Zogby had one assist apiece. Combined, Brandon Heyman and James Kaffenberger had 17 total saves.
The loss to Auburn left the Hornets at 2-5-1 going into a road trip early next week to the Albany area, where it plays Shaker-Colonie and Bethlehem. CBA/J-D’s last game of 2015 is next Wednesday, where it travels to Kennedy Arena to face Rome Free Academy.