To at least some degree, the entire regular seasons of the West Genesee and Syracuse ice hockey teams have built toward this Thursday night’s encounter at Meachem Rink.

Adding to the excitement is their high position in the state rankings, with the Cougars occupying the top spot since mid-December and the Wildcats steadily moving up the ranks. Also, it’s the only time WG and Syracuse meet in the regular season, meaning a rematch could only take place in the Section III playoffs.

Both teams wanted to make sure, in the first full week of 2016, that they didn’t get caught looking ahead, and WG went first, facing some stress against visiting Rome Free Academy at Shove Park last Wednesday night before getting away late in a 5-0 shutout of the Black Knights.

RFA arrived in Camillus sporting a 2-7-1 record, far removed from the strong side that reached the Section III Division I final each year from 2011 to 2014, only to fall each time to the Wildcats.

Yet in this game, the Black Knights’ defense put up a first-rate effort in the first two periods. The Wildcats had the puck in RFA’s end most of the time, but only found the net a single time against goaltender Ethan Sinderine, who would finish the night with 34 saves.

All of that pressure (WG would out-shoot the Black Knights 39-3) would take a toll, though, and in the third period the Wildcats connected four times to put the game away, with Jack Birchler scoring twice and Jay Considine getting a pair of assists.

Ryan McDonald earned one goal and one assist, while Pat McDonald and Marshall Winn netted the other goals. Matt McDonald, Steve Anderson, Jeff Kopek, Ryan Smith, Chris Peer and Garrett Schnorr gained one assist apiece.

WG was at home again Friday to face Watertown IHC, and once again prevailed by a big margin, blanking the Cavaliers 9-0 and, this time, not waiting to put up the goals, racing to a 4-0 first-period lead and continuing to add on from there.

Considine netted a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist, but it was Kopek with the most points, scoring twice and adding four assists. Ryan McDonald also got two goals as Dan Colabufo piled up four assists while joining Anderson with single tallies. Winn, Smith, Conor Bartlett and Jack Miller had one assist apiece.

While that was going on, Syracuse, with a nine-game win streak, entered the Cicero-North Syracuse Optimist Tournament, where it met Oswego Friday night at Cicero Twin Rinks and, thanks to a big mid-game offensive surge, beat the Buccaneers 7-4.

During the second period, the Cougars expanded on its 1-0 lead by scoring four times to negate Oswego’s pair of tallies. Sean Eccles, in particular, lit it up, finishing with a season-best four goals as Adam Durand, Bryan O’Mara and Casey Rogers had one goal apiece. C.J. Walsh and Matt Frye each got two assists as Colby Skrupa, Andrew Hodgens and Ryan Evanchak had one assist apiece.

A tougher test followed Saturday, with the Cougars going up against the same CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt side it beat by a narrow 2-1 margin Dec. 22 at Onondaga Nation Arena. Now, at the Twin Rinks, it again proved exciting, with Syracuse having to hang on at the end to turn back the Brothers 4-3 and make it 11 wins in a row.

Matt Eccles put Syracuse on the board in the opening minutes, scoring off a feed from Casey Rogers, only to have Adam Fontana answer for CBA/J-D to tie it. They stayed 1-1 until the second period, where Philip Zollo converted for the Cougars.

Amid a string of penalties in the third period, Syracuse appeared to get away when Frye and O’Mara netted goals to make it 4-1. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Ben McCreary found the net on a slap shot with 4:59 left and, just 15 seconds later, Fontana got his second goal, cutting Syracuse’s margin to one.

Try as it could, though, CBA/J-D could not force overtime, thwarted by Jake Polacek’s 12 saves. Hodgens and Skrupa had two assists apiece, while Adam Durand and Ryan Eccles joined Rogers with single assists. Matt Eccles garnered tournament MVP honors.

Syracuse still has one more game, at Fulton on Tuesday night, while West Genesee hosts Cicero-North Syracuse that same night, each of them aware of the bigger battle that awaits two nights later.