Though they were technically neighboring programs, the ice hockey teams of Fayetteville-Manlius and CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt always were apart for several reasons.
Part of it was where they played, with the Brothers stationed at Onondaga Nation Arena and the Hornets conducting its home games at Cicero Twin Rinks.
More importantly, F-M was in Division I and CBA/J-D in Division II (where it won a state championship in 2013), at least until this winter.
Changes in how the New York State Public High School Athletic Association classified combined teams means that CBA/J-D is now in Division I with F-M, though, with a 13-team league, they only meet once head-to-head.
That takes place this Saturday, at 3:30, at the War Memorial, at the tail end of a busy opening stretch for both sides.
F-M would begin by facing defending sectional Division II champion Auburn at the Twin Rinks. Having handled Liverpool 7-2 in its Nov. 21 opener, the Maroons may have overlooked the Hornets – and paid for it.
In a fine all-around effort, F-M hammered Auburn 8-3, and did so without getting a goal in the first period.
Trailing 1-0, the Hornets zoomed in front in the second period, and then found the net five times in the third period, with Zach Bookman at the forefront thanks to his three-goal hat trick, to go with an assist.
Jackson Denton had a goal and two assists, with Ben Hammond adding one goal and one assist. Will Duncanson, Josh Kuchinski and John Manzi earned goals, too, as Trent McKiven earned an assist.
Now the Hornets turned its attention to its own early-season tournament, which started Friday with a game against Franklin Academy (Section X) where F-M prevailed 3-0 in large part thanks to Tanner McKiven’s work in the net as he stopped all 35 shots he faced.
All of the Hornets’ goals were in the first two periods, with Duncanson getting one goal and one assist as Kuchinski and Jason Tedeschi also found the net. Hammond, Bookman and Brandon Heyman had one assist apiece.
Cortland-Homer beat Albany CBA 9-2 in the other opening round game, meaning the final would pit the Hornets against the Golden Eagles, who would claim a 5-3 decision, handing F-M its first defeat of the season.
They traded goals most of the way, tied 1-1 after one period and 3-3 after two periods. Only in the third period did Cortland-Homer get out in front for good, scoring twice.
Bookman, Hammond and Denton earned F-M’s goals, with Kuchinski joining Bookman in the assist column. Heyman had 25 saves as five different Golden Eagles scored – Josh Cargen, Nick Djafari, Trevor Jubran, Andrew Partigianoni and Dominick Tutino.
CBA/J-D opened last Monday, hosting Clinton, a sectional Division II finalist last winter who is intent on getting back there, and opened by defeating the Brothers 5-1.
Things were quiet until the second period, when the Warriors netted three unanswered goals. And it pulled further away late despite Dylan Drury’s third-period tally that put the Brothers on the board.
Manuel Pineda finished the night with 36 saves, but the CBA/J-D goalie surrendered enough as Clinton’s T.J. Elsenbeck led his side with two goals and one assist. Killian Kulpa had one goal and one assist.
On Thursday night, CBA/J-D hosted Cicero-North Syracuse, and while it didn’t get into the win column, it did manage to pull out a 4-4 tie with the Northstars with a goal late in regulation after Pineda was pulled.
Bailey Doust, with two goals, and Simon Lessor, with two assists, led the attack as Kodi Dotterer had one goal and one assist. Adam Louise also scored as Finn Wheeler, Isaiah Raby and Tanner Burns had one assist apiece. Pineda finished with 31 saves.
A third game in the week saw the Brothers make the trip to Canandaigua on Friday night, but take a 6-2 defeat to the Braves to fall to 0-2-1 overall.
Just before facing F-M, CBA/J-D will have a Thursday-night encounter with Rome Free Academy at Nedrow, just as F-M challenges defending sectional Division I champion Syracuse at Meachem Rink in the wake of a Tuesday home game against West Genesee.
