When the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse ice hockey teams clash in their lone regular-season meeting Tuesday night at Lysander Arena, they do so with the Warriors feeling much better about its prospects.
Entering this game, the Warriors are 5-4, having reached the .500 mark Dec. 23 with a 5-3 win over Mohawk Valley where it erased a 3-0 first-period deficit to stun the Raiders.
Then, hosting Oswego last Wednesday night in a non-league game, Liverpool won again by a 5-3 margin, though this time it didn’t require a big comeback to subdue the Buccaneers, just a well-timed surge.
The game was tied, 1-1, going into the second period, when Liverpool made its lone outburst, scoring three times in that frame to grab a 4-2 advantage. Oswego couldn’t recover, this despite a great effort by Bucs goalie Jarrett Dudley, who had 38 saves.
By game’s end, five different Warriors had scored the five goals – Richie Hart, Bobby Welch, Kyle Terzini, Nick Northrup and John Coggiola, with Northrup and Coggiola each netting their first goals of the season.
Tom Bianchi and Jeff Gentile both finished with a pair of assists, while Hart, Welch, Nate Dombroski, Rocco Leone and Pat Langlois had one assist apiece. Strong again in the net, Steven Kozikoski stopped 25 of Oswego’s 27 shots.
As this went on, C-NS hosted Fulton at the Twin Rinks and could not get on the board in a 2-0 defeat to the Red Raiders.
Defensively, the Northstars were just fine, getting 20 saves from goalie Jake Doren. But Fulton got enough as Cameron Clarke assisted on goals by Ethan Cimino and Stan Kubis and the Red Raiders’ goaltender, Spencer Evans, grabbed all 20 of C-NS’s shot attempts.
Instead of a respite, C-NS had to turn around 24 hours later and face the undefeated, state Division I top-ranked Syracuse Cougars. Carrying an 8-0 record as the section’s lone undefeated team, the Cougars made it nine in a row, rolling past the Northstars 5-1.
Just like with Liverpool’s game against Oswego, the second period proved pivotal. C-NS only trailed, 1-0, but then surrendered three straight goals, only breaking up the shutout in the third period when Logan Field converted, unassisted.
Doren finished with 34 saves, watching as Syracuse’s Bryan O’Mara produced two goals and one assist, while teammates Philip Zollo and Ryan Eccles each finished with a goal and two assists.
Aside from facing Liverpool, C-NS, who fell to 3-5 with the defeat to Syracuse, also hosts its annual Optimist Tournament Friday and Saturday, playing Oswego after a date with CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt.
