In the 14 years since that fateful day in November 2005 when Bobby Conklin lost his life in an automobile accident, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team has made sure the memory of its fallen captain remains fresh.
And the biggest tribute was naming the Bees’ season-opening tournament in Conklin’s honor.
So it was that B’ville hockey set out again in 2019-20, starting with the Bobby Conklin Memorial Tournament and, in the championship game, an opportunity to knock out the reigning state Division I champions – which it did.
The Syracuse Cougars had defeated the Bees in last winter’s Section III Division I semifinal on the way to that state title, but had seen heavy graduation losses.
What’s more, Syracuse, who had started this season 1-2, nearly didn’t make it out of its opening-round game Friday against Liverpool, needing a controversial goal in the last seconds of regulation and a shootout to get past the Warriors.
By contrast, B’ville had sailed through its opening-round game against Fulton, getting a 3-0 shutout that involved a single goal in each period and 13 saves from goaltender Brad O’Neill.
A single line was responsible for the Bees’ attack, Alex Pompo assisting on all three goals – two of them by Braden Lynch, the other by Luke Hoskin.
Now, in Saturday’s final, it was B’ville against Syracuse, and quite unlike a season ago, the Bees found success, though it was nervous until the final horn of a 3-2 victory over the Cougars.
It all began with Lynch, who three different times solved Syracuse’s defense. Twice, he netted goals, and on another occasion he found Matt Carner, who converted as Hoskin assisted on one of Lynch’s tallies.
So it was 3-0 in B’ville’s favor going to the third period, but the Cougars weren’t done. Nelson Jones netted on one goal and assisted on another, by Kaleb Benedict, cutting the Bees’ margin to one.
But the defense made sure it did not go to OT again, and O’Neill, far busier than he was against Fulton, stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to help the Bees snare the first-place trophy.
B’ville would take a 2-0 record into Tuesday’s game against Liverpool, who had edged Fulton in another shootout to get third place in the Conklin Tournament. The Bees are home again Friday to face Whitesboro.
