A season ago at the War Memorial, the West Genesee and Syracuse ice hockey teams battled for Section III Division I superiority, with the Wildcats needing overtime to claim the sectional title for the second year in a row and ninth time in 10 years.
Now it’s 2017-18, and through a series of early-season tests, WG and Syracuse both would find out plenty about themselves.
The Wildcats would get underway against defending sectional Division II champion Skaneateles last Tuesday night at Shove Park, which turned into a showcase for Dan Colabufo as he had a hand in every goal of a 7-2 romp over the Lakers.
Skaneateles was still looking to replace its top scoring line of Raymond Falso, Reggie Buell and Matt Benson, and still wasn’t at full strength. Three key players – Jimmy Liberatore, Nate Squires and Tyler Schneider – were still recovering from the football Lakers’ run to the state Class C championship and were not yet available to play.
WG was at full strength, though, and after it killed an early Skaneateles power play, started to take charge with a three-on-one breakaway that Colabufo converted into a goal at the 4:54 mark of the first period.
Billy Fisher’s goal made it 2-0 midway through the period and, 47 seconds later, Colabufo again broke clear, scoring off feeds from John Bergan and Ryan Smith. At the 11:11 mark, Colabufo gained the hat trick.
So it was 4-0 through one period, and it got to 6-0 late in the second period, Colabufo and Fisher both converting again, before Owen Van Holtz, off a feed from Bauer Morrissey, got Skaneateles on the board.
Matt Leveroni tacked on a third-period goal, only to have Colabufo pick up his fifth goal just 37 seconds later. All game long, Patrick McDonald, on the same line as Colabufo and Fisher, set up scoring plays, finishing with a career-best five assists
Then it was WG’s annual Wildcat Classic, which started Friday with a first-round game against Suffern (Section I) after Fairport defeated Massena.
The Wildcats handled the Mounties 5-1, with McDonald netting a first-period goal and then, in the second period, WG breaking out of a 1-1 tie with Joe Comins’ first goal of the season, assisted by Chris Kleberg.
McDonald returned to score again before the period ended, making it 3-1, and in the final period McDonald completed his own hat trick before Colabufo netted the final goal. Smith amassed three assists as Colabufo and Mike McGuigan picked up assists.
In Saturday’s final between WG and Fairport, the Wildcats prevailed again, this time with a 3-0 shutout where its defense had to do plenty of work killing a series of penalties that the Red Raiders could not turn into scoring plays.
Four times in the first two periods, Fairport got power plays and could convert none of them, ultimately paying for these misses when McDonald, short-handed, scored with 3:14 left in the second period and assisted on Colabufo’s goal 50 seconds later to make it 2-0 going to the third period.
That helped McDonald secure tournament MVP honors, but the game wasn’t secure until Dan Holzhauer had tacked on an insurance goal less than two minutes into the third period and WG had killed off three more penalties.
As for the Syracuse Cougars, whose roster includes plenty of players from Westhill, Marcellus and Solvay, the season began Nov. 24-25 in the Williamsville Tournament in suburban Buffalo.
There, the Cougars met reigning state Division I champion Williamsville North (who beat WG in overtime in last year’s regional final) in the first round, with Syracuse falling 4-2. Bryan O’Mara netted both goals, with Ryan Eccles and Emmett Barry picking up assists. Jack Klawitter stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced.
Encouraged by how it played in that game, Syracuse demolished Williamsville South 13-0 in the consolation game, with nine different players earning goals and Philip Zollo helping all of them by earning four assists.
O’Mara had two goals and three assists, with Eccles scoring twice and adding two assists. Nate Frye and Andrew Corning each got two goals and one assist. Ryan Durand, Mack Etoll and Ryan Evanchak all finished with one goal and one assist. Kyle Lamson and Skariwate Papineau had the other goals. Assists went to Kaleb Benedict and Stephen Matro.
Then it was on to Baldwinsville’s Conklin Memorial Tournament, where on Friday the Cougars would take on host B’ville at Lysander Arena, a rematch of last winter’s sectional semifinal.
And this one proved just as close, staying 0-0 until the third period, when Eccles’ goal matched that of the Bees’ Parker Schroeder.
Thanks to 30 saves from Klawitter and 23 saves from B’ville goalie Jeremy Rappard, it stayed 1-1 through the end of regulation and overtime, but in a shoot-out to determine who advances to the finals, Syracuse won it.
This put the Cougars in Saturday’s final against Cazenovia, who had beaten Fulton 2-1, but ultimately could not keep up with Syracuse, who took charge in the second period and ultimately beat the Lakers 4-1.
Eccles managed three assists as O’Mara scored twice, adding an assist. Durand and Zollo had the other goals, with Frye and Jack Grooms tacking on assists and Alex Moreno, taking over in goal for Klawitter, doing well in the net, stopping 18 of 19 shots he faced.
