As great as the Syracuse Cougars ice hockey team may have felt after conquering West Genesee 3-2 at Shove Park on Jan. 13, the Wildcats didn’t let the result hurt too much because it knew a post-season rematch would carry far greater implications.
In the meantime, though, all that WG could do was start winning again – which it did last Monday afternoon at Cicero Twin Rinks when it took on Fayetteville-Manlius and smothered the Hornets in a 7-0 shutout.
All of the Wildcats’ offense got generated in the first two periods – three goals in the first, four goals in the second – and Dan Colabufo led the charge, earning a three-goal hat trick and also contributing an assist as Pat McDonald got four assists to go with his lone tally.
Garrett Schnorr managed one goal and one assist, while John Galimi stepped up for a pair of assists. Ryan Smith and Marshall Winn earned the other goals as Chris Peer contributed an assist. WG dominated puck possession, taking 46 shots to F-M’s 11.
Syracuse’s first game following the win at West Genesee came Wednesday night, against Mohawk Valley. The combination of five days to get the Wildcats game out of its system plus a 3-9 opponent allowed the Cougars to avoid any kind of letdown and record its own shutout, blanking the Raiders 6-0.
A quick start proved reassuring, Syracuse scoring three times in the first period. More would follow as 10 different players earned at least one point and five would find the net, with only Bryan O’Mara scoring twice, adding an assist.
Matt Eccles had a goal and two assists, while Philip Zollo got one goal and one assist. Ryan Evanchak and Matt Frye scored, too, with C.J. Walsh getting two assists. Matt Goddard, Stephen Matro, Ryan Eccles and Andrew Hodgens had one assist apiece.
On Friday, the Cougars were back at the Twin Rinks, where it had won the Cicero-North Syracuse Optimist Tournament two weeks earlier. Now, though, it had a single game against C-NS, which it handled with ease as it gained a 9-2 victory over the Northstars.
Having improved its mark to 13-1, Syracuse would host state Division II no. 2-ranked Skaneateles Tuesday night, the Lakers also coming into the game with a 13-1 record. The Cougars would then go to Ithaca Thursday, just like WG (13-2) had done Sunday before Friday’s trip to Kennedy Arena for its own game against Mohawk Valley.
The Wildcats would shut out Ithaca 6-0, getting away from the Little Red with a three-goal second-period outburst and then turning to its defense, who allowed just 13 shots, all of them stopped by Sammy Colabufo and Anthony Mazzoni.
Six different players – Schnorr, Dan Colabufo, Jay Considine, Jack Miller, Ryan Washo and John Galimi – scored those six Wildcats goals, and McDonald set up most of them thanks to his four assists. John Bergan added two assists as single assists went to Considine, Galimi, Winn and Dan Colabufo.
