Even if first place in the Division II American conference was out of the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team’s reach, it still had a great chance of hosting a Section III playoff game if it kept playing like it did.

And the Brothers had one of its most impressive efforts of the season Wednesday night, when it ventured to Casey Park Rink and, in a possible post-season preview, rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Auburn Maroons.

Things didn’t start well for CBA/J-D, shut out in the first period as Jake Morin’s goal, assisted by Brendan Williams and Hunter Tubbert, produced a 1-0 Auburn lead. For the rest of the game, though, the Brothers’ defense stymied the Maroons, Peyton Bowler making most of his 19 saves.

But it was CBA/J-D’s attack that would turn it around in the second period, burning Auburn for three straight goals and tacking on another in the final period. Ben McCreary, with two goals and one assist, led the way as Jack Austin and Doug DeMarche each had one goal and one assist. Lynch Raby, Kodi Dotterer and Connor Kinahan also picked up assists.

For Fayetteville-Manlius, the week’s highlight was its game against Cicero-North Syracuse at the Twin Rinks facility the two programs share. In the first of two encounters during the month of January, the Hornets lost, 5-2, to the Northstars.

Neither side got on the board in the first period. Trailing 1-0 in the second, the Hornets tied it, only to have C-NS quickly go back in front, and then stay there thanks to a third period where it scored three times, more than F-M could keep up with.

Two nights earlier, F-M had lost to Liverpool by that same 5-2 margin. Unlike with C-NS, though, this game’s decisive move came in the early going as the Warriors roared out to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period and the Hornets didn’t get on he board until it trailed 4-0 in the third period.

Ben Hammond notched both of those late goals, with Mikkal Toia assisting on one of them. Brandon Heyman made 30 saves and improved as the night went on, but five different Liverpool players – – Tyler Dorval, Connor Boland, Tommy Bianchi, Jack Irwin and Jeff Gentile – earned those five goals, with Dorval adding two assists.

This busy week for F-M concluded on Friday with a 4-3 defeat to Fulton, while CBA/J-D was at home taking Cazenovia apart in a 7-0 shutout of the Lakers.

Following a first-period goal, the Brothers scored three times in each of the last two periods to get away from Cazenovia as six different players would net goals by game’s end.

Kinahan scored twice, adding an assist, while McCreary picked up three assists. Hari Nanthakumar got one goal and one assist as Raby, Austin, Adam Carpenter and Liam O’Malley also found the net. Dotterer, Bailey Doust and Zach Eber also earned assists.