More than a week after a narrow 2-1 defeat to the state Division I top-ranked Syracuse Cougars on Dec. 22, the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team returned from holiday festivities and resumed its work on the rink.
That involved facing Rome Free Academy Wednesday night at Kennedy Arena, and from start to finish, it proved the most impressive performance of the Brothers’ season, as every part of its game clicked in a 6-1 rout of the Black Knights.
RFA took seven shots in the first period, but Peyton Bowler stopped all of them. That seemed to spark the CBA/J-D attack, who converted twice to get a 2-0 lead and then found the net again in the second period to counteract Derrick Miller’s goal. Up 3-1, the Brothers pulled away with three straight goals in the final period,
Ryan McGuire, with a goal and two assists, and Ben McCreary, with three assists, anchored the attack as Grayson Burns added two assists. Adam Fontana, Connor Flanagan, Ryan McGuire, Lynch Raby and Jamie St. Amour also scored, with Raby and Liam Sherwood contributing single assists.
The struggles of Fayetteville-Manlius continued, meanwhile, as it ventured to the Albany area for a pair of games against Section II opponents while West Genesee went along with them.
In last Monday’s game against Shaker-Colonie, the Hornets’ defense was solid, but it still lost by a 3-1 margin, unable to get on the board in the first two periods.
Zack Wisbey prevented the shutout with a third-period goal, assisted by Tommy Ryu and Ben Hammonds. Combined, F-M goaltenders Brandon Heyman and Edward Moses had 26 saves between them.
A day later, the Hornets faced Bethlehem, who had lost 7-1 to West Genesee the previous day. Looking to turn things around, the Hornets instead paid for a slow start in a 5-2 defeat to the Eagles.
By the time F-M got on the board in the second period, Bethlehem already possessed a 2-0 lead, and the Hornets couldn’t recover, even though Ben Hammond and Will Healy would find the net, each of them assisted by Trevor Pokines as Tommy Guilfoil and Garrett Zogby also gained assists. James Kaffenberger returned to goaltending duties and finished with 24 saves.
So F-M hit the midway point of its regular season 2-7-1 as it visits Kennedy Arena next Wednesday to face Mohawk Wednesday before hosting defending Section III Division I champion Baldwinsville Jan. 8 night at the Cicero Twin Rinks, exactly where CBA/J-D (3-4-1) takes on Cicero-North Syracuse after a Wednesday trip to Ontario Bay.
