This time around, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team would not get the unlikely win in the Section III Division I semifinal against a heavily favored top seed.
What the Bees pulled off in 2018 at West Genesee against an undefeated, state no. 1-ranked Wildcats side was something it looked to repeat when it traveled to Meachem Rink last Wednesday night to face top seed and defending champion.
But just like it did the other two times it faced the Cougars this season, B’ville was unable to produce much and got overwhelmed in the early stages of a 5-0 defeat.
Since Syracuse topped B’ville in last winter’s sectional final, it had maintained the upper hand in this budding rivalry, prevailing 5-1 back on Dec. 12 at Lysander Arena and again 4-0 at Meachem earlier this month.
In the latter of those two games, all of the Cougars’ goals were scored in the second period. Here, perhaps wanting to avoid the slow start it had in its previous playoff round against Fulton, Syracuse didn’t wait.
In a first-period blitz, Syracuse found the net three times, but even that margin wasn’t enough as the Cougars tacked on two more goals in the second period, eventually outshooting the Bees by a more than 2-1 margin.
As was the case most of the season, Syracuse’s attack was well-balanced. Only Kaleb Benedict scored twice, with Skariwate Papineau getting two assists to go with his lone goal. Hugh White and Steve Matro had the other goals, with Nate Frye, Kyle Lamson and Cam Walsh each getting one assist.
Even though B’ville had come back to beat Rome Free Academy in the sectional quarterfinals, it didn’t get close to happening here. None of the Bees’ 21 shots got past Syracuse goalie Alex Moreno as Tommy Blais, in defeat, made 41 saves.
So the sectional final Monday night pitted Syracuse against West Genesee, who looked to regain the title after outlasting Fayetteville-Manlius 4-2 in the other semifinal at Shove Park.
B’ville, meanwhile, finished a 10-12 season as senior forward Parker Schroeder was named a Division I All-Star second-team selection, the only Bees player on either the first or second teams.
