Now the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team entered its most crowded stretch of the season, playing three games in a span of less than 72 hours, all of them away from the home confines of Onondaga Nation Arena.

And it culminated on Saturday afternoon at Cicero Twin Rinks with the Brothers taking another shot at undefeated (10-0), state Division I top-ranked Syracuse, a team it pushed hard in a 2-1 defeat on Dec. 22 in Nedrow, during the tail end of the Cicero-North Syracuse Optimist Tournament.

The rematch would prove exciting as well, with CBA/J-D falling behind, but making a spirited late charge before taking a 4-3 defeat to the Cougars.

Syracuse hit first with Matt Eccles’ goal, only to have Adam Fontana answer off feeds from Jamie St. Amour and Grayson Burns. Early in the second period, the Cougars reclaimed the lead on Philip Zollo’s tally, and when Matt Frye and Bryan O’Mara converted twice early in the third period to make it 4-1, the Brothers looked out of it.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, Ben McCrerary converted on a slap shot with 4:59 left and, just 15 seconds later, Fontana scored again, cutting Syracuse’s margin to one. Try as it could, though, CBA/J-D could not force overtime and Syracuse held on for its 11th consecutive victory. Goalie Peyton Bowler finished with 22 saves.

In the first part of the Optimist Tournament, CBA/J-D faced the host side from C-NS, who entered the game with a 3-6 record. It turned into a tense, low-scoring affair, but the Brothers, led by Jamie St. Amour, pulled it out, edging the Northstars in another 2-1 decision.

Late in the first period, St. Amour, fed by Ryan McGuire, put in the first goal of the night on a power play, the only one of 10 shots that got past C-NS goalie Jack Doren. Then St. Amour converted short-handed on a second-period breakaway to make it 2-0.

That margin got cut in half thanks to Zach Matyasik’s rebound goal late in the second period, and though Ben Sherwood nearly made it 3-1, putting a shot off the crossbar late in that frame, CBA/J-D would not score again.

Thus, the Brothers’ defense had to perform – which it did, keeping the Northstars off the board the rest of the way, including a power play midway through the third period. Bowler was sensational in the net, stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced.

By far, the easiest of the three games for CBA/J-D was the first one, which took place last Wednesday night at Ontario Bay as an early-game scoring blitz led to a 6-1 victory over the Thunder.

All of the Brothers’ goals were scored in the first two periods, and the production was spread around, though Ben McCreary set the pace, scoring twice and adding an assist. McGuire and Fontana each had one goal and one assist, while Connor Flanagan and Jack Lester also found the net. Burns, Lynch Raby and Adam Carpenter had one assist apiece.

That same night, Fayetteville-Manlius, who had gone 2-7-1 in the first half of the regular season, met 5-4 Mohawk Valley at Kennedy Arena in Rome and got its best win of the season, rallying from behind to top the Raiders 3-2.

Goals by Cody Giannini and Nick Mandia had Mohawk Valley in front, 2-1, through one period. For the rest of the game, though, the Hornets’ defense turned back all of the Raiders’ opportunities, anchored by goalie Brandon Heyman, who played the whole game in the net and recorded 19 saves.

Single goals in the second and third periods helped F-M go out in front, and Trevor Pokines anchored the effort, scoring one goal and assisting on the other two, by Tommy Ryu and Will Healy. Tommy Guilfoil picked up an assist of his own.

But it got a lot tougher for the Hornets on Friday night as it hosted defending Section III Division I champion Baldwinsville, who owned a five-game win streak. F-M did play well in the late going, but only after the Bees built up a comfortable margin in a 6-2 decision.

F-M only trailed 1-0 after one period, but led by Garrett Gray, who finished with two goals and two assists, B’ville extended that margin to 4-0 in the second period, though the Hornets did break up the shutout in the late going as Pokines and Zack Wisby earned goals, with Healy, Garrett Zogby and Ben Hammond earning assists. Heyman got 20 saves.

This week, F-M (3-8-1) takes on Liverpool at Lysander Arena and hosts Fulton at the Twin Rinks Friday, while CBA/J-D hosts Auburn Wednesday and then plays Cazenovia Saturday at the Morrisville State IcePlex.