Fresh off another Section III Division II finals appearance, the CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team wants nothing less than a return to the Syracuse War Memorial for another chance at the top prize.
To get started, the Brothers would venture to the Albany area for a pair of games last weekend, starting Friday against Shenendehowa (Section II), where CBA/J-D would produce plenty, but still fall 5-3 to the Plainsmen.
Then it was a showdown with powerful Saratoga Springs on Saturday afternoon, a game that was tied, 1-1, going into the third period before Saratoga converted twice and pulled it out 3-1, leaving the Brothers at 0-2 going into home contests this week against Whitesboro and Fulton.
Meanwhile, up in Division I, Fayetteville-Manlius dealt with a shuffle of the two conferences that left the Hornets in the American Conference, knowing that defending sectional champion West Genesee will be tough to topple.
First, though, the Hornets would take on Fulton in last Tuesday’s opener, the game ending in a 1-1 tie. Eric Shear’s first-period goal, assisted by J.J. Wahl, put the Red Raiders in front.
However, F-M tied it in the second period as Will Duncanson scored, the assist going to Sam Dichristina. And that’s where it stayed, through the third period and overtime.
Brandon Heyman was superb in goal for the Hornets, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced. Yet the Hornets were constantly thwarted in its attempts to earn the game-winner as Fulton goalie Jadon Lee managed 30 saves.
Then, at Cicero Twin Rinks, F-M would face Cortland-Homer in the opening round of the Hornet Pride Classic and take a 5-0 defeat, with the Golden Eagles seizing control thanks to a trio of second-period goals.
Under attack most of the way, Hornets goalie James Kaffenberger had 43 saves, yet could not keep everything out. Nine different Cortland-Homer players earned points, with Jake Prunier (two goals), Trevor Jurban (two assists) and Jed Brazo (one goal, one assist) leading the charge.
In the consolation game Saturday, F-M faced Hamburg (Section VI), who had lost to Albany CBA the day before.
They traded goals in the first two periods, the Hornets seeing Will Duncanson find the net twice and Colin Debajian also score, with Dichristina and Ben Hammond getting two assists apiece. Jackson Denton and Jack Coughlin also earned assists.
Despite this, Hamburg used a third-period goal to inch in front and prevail 4-3, overcoming Heyman’s 17 saves. In the championship game, Cortland-Homer routed Albany CBA 8-3.
