Maybe the Syracuse Cougars ice hockey team will find itself in the state Division I rankings by the time 2017 gets underway.
Still unranked going into Tuesday night’s game against Baldwinsville at Meachem Rink, the Cougars atoned for its lone blemish of the season by dominating the game’s opening stages and then withstanding a late Bees rally to prevail by a 5-2 margin.
Every Syracuse player remembered what had taken place when it first met B’ville Dec. 3 at Lysander Arena. Leading most of the way in the final of the Bobby Conklin Memorial Tournament, the Cougars surrendered that edge and lost, 4-3, when the Bees scored in the last seconds of regulation.
Since then, Syracuse had outscored three opponents (Rome Free Academy, Watertown IHC and Fayetteville-Manlius) by a combined 35-1 margin, yet still remained outside the state rankings, where B’ville stood in the no. 11 spot.
Determined to get payback and some recognition, the Cougars would keep the Bees pinned in its own end for most of the first period, not only controlling the puck, but exhibiting a physical style that led to even more possession time.
Twice, that pressure led to goals. At the 5:54 mark, a won face-off just outside the blue line led to an attack and a goal from Matt Goddard, assisted by Matt Frye. Less than five minutes later, Syracuse doubled the lead to 2-0 when Nate Frye, off a pass from Ryan Durand, wrapped around the net and put it past B’ville goalie Alex Rose.
The Cougars threatened to blow it open in the second period, forcing the Bees into a series of penalties. Yet only once did Syracuse convert, on a great series of passes leading to Philip Zollo finding C.J. Walsh at the left side of the net for the goal.
Trailing 3-0, B’ville began to fight back a minute after Walsh’s goal when Josh Perez converted. Then, 30 seconds into the third period, Tanner McCaffrey poured in a rebound goal, and the Cougars’ margin was down to one, with a lot of time to play.
Just as quickly, though, B’ville threw away its momentum with a penalty that Matt Eccles turned into a goal when his wrist shot from the point found the net with 12:07 left. From there, the Cougars went back to its puck-control strategy that worked so well in the early going, and Bryan O’Mara added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Unlike Syracuse, West Genesee was still in the state rankings at the no. 4 spot, not falling too far despite its 2-1 defeat to Pittsford on Dec. 17.
In that game, Marshall Winn scored in the first period, assisted by Jay Considine and Pat McDonald. But that the lone Wildcats goal of the night, and its 1-0 lead disappeared when Pittsford scored twice in the final period, overcoming 15 saves from Colabufo.
Not happy with this, WG took it out Tuesday night on Rome Free Academy, prevailing 8-1 at Kennedy Arena as, once again, a so-so start was followed by a furious second period where the Wildcats, up 1-0, scored four times to blow the game open, adding three more in the final period.
Dan Colabufo, with two goals and two assists, and Pat McDonald, with a goal and three assists, led WG’s attack. Marshall Winn also scored twice as Jay Considine earned a goal and two assists.
In all, 12 different Wildcats earned at least one point. Jack Birchler and Timmy Winn produced single goals, with Dan Holzhauer and Chris Peer each getting two assists. Single assists were credited to John Bergan, Chris Kleberg, Ryan Washo and Garrettt Schnorr.
