In the mind of head coach John Purcell, the Syracuse Cougars ice hockey team had a lot of youth on its roster, and plenty of improvement to make if it wanted to reach its main goal of the combined program’s first-ever Section III title.
But the opinions of others have proven quite lofty as Syracuse managed to top the first state Division I rankings of the season thanks to its 5-0 start, and now needed to defend it against a pair of its neighbors, inside and outside of Division I, before hitting the holiday break.
The Cougars’ first game as a state no. 1-ranked team took place Dec. 17, at Meachem Rink, where Fayetteville-Manlius arrived and made a mid-game surge, but Syracuse answered it and went on to defeat the Hornets 5-2.
A fast start proved quite important, Syracuse streaking to a 2-0 first-period lead. Thus, when F-M did get on the board in the second period on goals by Trevor Pokines and Zack Wisbey, the Cougars were able to absorb those blows and answer right back with a pair of its own scoring plays.
Then Syracuse blanked the Hornets in the third period and cruised to the win, again utilizing a balanced attack where Colby Skrupa found the net twice and three others – Bryan O’Mara, Ryan Eccles and Ryan Evanchak – earned single goals.
Phillp Zollo, Andrew Hodgens, Matt Frye and Adam Durand had one assist apiece, with the defense protecting goalie Jake Polachek, who only had to make 13 saves. By contrast, Syracuse took more than twice the number of shots – 34 in all.
From there, Syracuse made the short trip down Route 11 to Onondaga Nation Arena to face defending sectional Division II champion CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt last Tuesday night, though the Brothers, with its 1-3-1, seemed far removed from last season’s championship glory.
Yet CBA/J-D brought its top game, on both ends, to try and upend the Cougars, and nearly did so in a close, tense, low-scoring contest that Syracuse had to work hard to pull out by a 2-1 margin.
All through the first period, Syracuse attacked hard, taking 12 shots to the Brothers’ four, and did convert once to go out in front. Yet that 1-0 lead did not hold up as CBA/J-D started to unleash its own offense with nine shots to the Cougars’ five in the second period and tied it on Adam Fontana’s rebound goal.
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.
Meanwhile, West Genesee, at no. 8 in those same state Division I rankings, would face Fulton Dec. 18 at Shove Park, and prove steady from start to finish as it put away the Red Raiders by a score of 5-1.
The Wildcats used single goals in each of the first two periods to gain a 2-0 lead, all the while possessing the puck and eventually accumulating 38 shots to Fulton’s 15. That pressure took a toll on the Red Raiders, and WG tacked on three goals in the final period for a larger cushion.
Five different Wildcats – Jay Considine, Dan Colabufo, Steve Anderson, Ryan McDonald and Jeff Kopek – earned those five goals. Considine got two assists, as did Matt McDonald and Pat McDonald, while Garrett Schnorr joined Colabufo, Kopek and Ryan McDonald with single assists.
It is nothing but non-league games for WG next week, starting with a trip east to the Albany area to face Section II Bethlehem and Shaker-Colonie before returning home Jan. 2 to face Pittsford, from Section V. Syracuse would have back-to-back games Dec. 29 and 30 at Ithaca and Cicero-North Syracuse.