Lysander — A strange sense of worry permeated followers of the Baldwinsville ice hockey team as Thursday night’s Section III Division I quarterfinal against Fayetteville-Manlius at Lysander Arena moved into the latter stages.
True, the Bees were out in front, but it hadn’t put the Hornets away, and that, combined with an uneven finish to the regular season, had some concerned that a surprise finish would cut short the quest for back-to-back sectional titles.
Then, one mistake made by the Hornets early in the third period eased the worries of the home crowd, and more was to follow as B’ville turned a tense affair into a comfortable 5-0 shutout victory, setting up a semifinal showdown next Tuesday with Syracuse at Meachem Rink.
When the Bees had met F-M Jan. 8 at Cicero Twin Rinks, it used a trio of second-period goals to break the game open, eventually winning 6-2. It took a lot longer to subdue the Hornets in the playoff rematch, though.
Early in the first period, B’ville went in front on Charlie Bertrand’s goal, assisted by Garrett Gray. And that was it for quite a while, with the game staying 1-0 all through the rest of the period, plus the entire second period.
While it had a fair share of scoring opportunities, the Bees could get nothing more past F-M goaltender James Kaffenberger, who finished the night with 30 saves. Thus, more was needed from the defense, who did a solid job cutting off most of the Hornets’ chances before Matt Sabourin, who had 17 saves, could grab them.
So it was still a one-goal margin early in the third period when Kaffenberger tried to clear the puck out of his own end. But he misplayed it and Josh Racha swooped in, grabbed the turnover and converted to make it 2-0.
continued — Energized by that break, the Bees’ attack came back to life. Gray, who had twice ripped shots off the post (just like he had done in overtime of the 2-2 tie with West Genesee on Feb. 2), finally found the net with one of those liners.
Carson Hayes and J.P. Clappa also hit on late goals. Gray and Isaiah Pompo each finished with two assists as Noah Lindsay added an assist.
Improving its record to 15-5-1, B’ville would now go to Meachem and faces Syracuse, the team it beat in last season’s sectional final at Utica Memorial Auditorium, which faces off Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Cougars beat Liverpool 5-1 in its sectional opener and have the confidence gained from blanking the Bees 5-0 during the regular season, though that took place on Dec. 4, nearly three months ago.
