For a couple of seasons, the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team has languished near the bottom of the Section III Division I standings, having to fight hard just to reach the post-season, where a quick exit awaited.

Perhaps tired of these struggles, the Hornets roared out of the gate in 2016-17, gradually pulling away from Watertown IHC last Tuesday night at Cicero Twin Rinks and not letting up until it had crushed the Cavaliers 8-1.

Work was steady in the first two periods, F-M converting twice in each period and clamping down on defense, too, while building a 4-0 margin. Then the Hornets pulled further away in the late going, led by Will Healy, who piled up three goals and three assists.

In all, 10 F-M players got into the scoring column. Chris Hurley scored twice, while Ben Hammond had a goal and two assists. Karl Farber and Jason Dunnewold notched single tallies as Mike Hockenberger earned two assists. Will Duncanson, Britton Smith, Josh Kuchinski and Mikkal Toia each earned single assists.

Now F-M hosted its own tournament, the Pride Classic, meeting Albany CBA in the first round. Goals by Hammond and Tommy Guilfoil pushed the Hornets to a 2-0 lead as the pair assisted on each other’s scoring plays and Andrew Coughlin got an assist, too, but the Brothers tied it by netting single goals in the second and third periods.

Regulation ended 2-2, and overtime didn’t settle anything, either. So it went to a shoot-out, and despite making 25 saves during the game, James Kaffenberger surrendered goals that allowed Albany CBA to escape with the win.

Pushed into Saturday’s consolation game against Oswego (who lost the other opening-round game to Hamburg 5-2), the Hornets lost that game, too, falling 4-1 to the Buccaneers as this time it was F-M falling behind 2-0 in the first period, but unable to recover and shut out until Hammond’s third-period goal, assisted by Hurley and Healy.

Brandon Heyman started in goal, reaching the same 25-saves total Kaffenberger did against Albany CBA, but no one on the Hornets’ defensive side could contain Oswego forward Nick Chalifoux, who notched a three-goal hat trick.

While the Hornets went through its tournament slate, CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, a sectional Division II champion as recently as 2015 and a state champion in 2013, would get underway Friday night at Onondaga Nation Arena against Clinton, who was off to an 0-2 start.

And the Brothers would prevail, 3-2, but it was far from easy. It took just 2:34 for CBA/J-D to move in front on Ben McCreary’s goal, and Lynch Raby converted midway through the first period to give the hosts a two-goal margin.

Perhaps sensing a rout, the Brothers relaxed – and cooled off, allowing the Warriors to regroup and, midway through the second period, pull within one, 2-1, on John Conway’s goal. That set off the alarm as CBA/J-D restored its margin minutes later when Tom Caputo found the net.

As it turned out, that was the game-winner. Clinton goalie Josh Trask stopped everything else the rest of the way, finishing within 19 saves, and watched his side pull back within one thanks to Austin Kulpa’s goal late in regulation.

To hang on, CBA/J-D needed its goaltender, Peyton Bowler, to stop 25 of the 27 shots he faced. McCreary was one of six Brothers to pick up an assist as Tanner Coleman, Adam Carpenter, Ian Henderson, Zach Eber and Hari Nanthakumar also reached the assist column.

All of this leads to CBA/J-D’s showdown with defending sectional Division II champion Skaneateles on Friday as the Lakers scored 19 goals in its first two games. Before that, the Brothers would host Ithaca Tuesday as F-M went to Kennedy Arena to face Rome Free Academy and takes a weekend trip east to face Lake Placid and Saranac Lake.