It was quite a successful weekend for the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team in Western New York.
On Dec. 14-15, the Hornets went to the Buffalo area for a pair of games and won them both, defeating West Seneca East 5-1 and then taking out Grand Island 5-3.
Against West Seneca East, all of F-M’s offense was produced in the first two periods as Zach Bookman, Will Duncanson and Jackson Denton had two assists apiece.
The five goals came from five different players – Bookman, Ben Hammond, Mike Hockenberger, Trent McKiven and Josh Kuchinski, with Tanner McKiven and Josh Johnston combining to stop 32 of the Trojans’ 33 shots.
F-M’s game with Grand Island was closer, but the Hornets fended off a late Vikings rally as Duncanson (who had both goals in the 2-2 tie with CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt Dec. 8 at the War Memorial) earned a goal and two assists and Bookman added three assists.
Again, five players shared the five Hornet goals as Duncanson was joined by Hammond, Trent McKiven, Jason Tedeschi and Jack Coughlin, with Brendon McDonald adding an assist. Johnston this time split net duties with Brandon Heyman, and they got 27 saves between them.
Armed with the momentum from this weekend sweep, F-M hosted Liverpool at the Cicero Twin Rinks last Tuesday and prevailed 3-1 over the Warriors to improve to 6-3-1 at the regular season’s midway point.
It was Liverpool getting a 1-0 lead on Connor Boland’s first-period goal, but from there F-M blanked the Warriors despite a constant barrage, Heyman dazzling in the net as he recorded 44 saves.
Inspired by Heyman’s play, F-M tied it 1-1 in the second period and scored twice in the final period to move out in front as Bookman, Hammond and Tedeschi earned the goals, with Trent McKiven getting two assists. Duncanson and Kuschinski joined Bookman with one assist apiece.
As F-M was beating Liverpool, CBA/J-D, who finished second in the Cicero-North Syracuse Optimist Tournament on Dec. 14-15, ventured to Lysander Arena to take on Baldwinsville.
And the Brothers lost, 3-1, to the Bees, the game close and low-scoring most of the way. Simon Lessor had CBA/J-D’s lone goal in the first period, assisted by Tanner Burns and Seamus Nicholson.
But B’ville matched it and then broke out of a 1-1 tie in the second period before tacking on a late insurance tally, overcoming a superb effort by CBA/J-D goalie Joe Salvador, who stopped 43 of 46 shots he faced.
Mike Marsallo, with two assists, anchored the Bees’ attack as goals went to Mark Monaco, Braden Lynch and Jamey Natoli. B’ville goalie Tommy Blais stopped 27 of the Brothers’ 28 shots.
Two nights later, CBA/J-D hosted state Division II no. 1-ranked Skaneateles at Onondaga Nation Arena and was unable to get on the board in a 5-0 defeat to the Lakers.
They were scoreless until the second period, when Skaneateles converted twice to go in front, and it would add to that margin in the third period, overcoming Salvador’s 35 saves. Charlie Major had a goal and two assists as Garrett Krieger earned two goals, with Cole Heintz and Owen Van Holtz also getting a pair of assists.
