Off to a 1-3 start, the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team sought to build some confidence through its trip to the Albany area in the weekend before the holiday break.

Up against Shenendehowa last Friday night, the Hornets fought hard and defeated the Plainsmen 4-3, combining a potent attack with some clutch defensive play.

All of the goals were secored in the first two periods. F-M saw John Manzi convert twice, helped by goals from Jackson Denton and Will Duncanson.

Ben Hammond and Spencer Sansenbury each earned two assists, with Denton, Colin Debejian and Jason Tedeschi getting one assist apiece.

Shen nearly matched the Hornets’ pace, but trailing by one in the third period, the Plainsmen couldn’t get a shot past Jake Johnston, the F-M goalie finishing the night with 26 saves.

Now the Hornets had a chance to sweep the weekend when it went up against Saratoga Springs a day later.

This was not as successful, though as the Blue Streaks prevailed 4-1, bolting out to a 4-0 lead through two periods before Denton scored in the third period, assisted by Sasenbury. In goal, Johnston recorded 20 saves.

This leaves F-M at 2-4 overall heading into another set of back-to-back games the following weekend in the Clinton Tournament.

As for CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, it had its own game at Clinton Arena last Friday, but the Brothers were unable to get on the board in a 3-0 defeat to the Warriors.

Under attack most of the way, CBA/J-D goaltender Manuel Pineda made 38 saves. Yet he allowed two goals to Ethan Carr and another to Corbin Melie as all of the Brothers’ 18 shots were stopped by Dan Frank.

Just like F-M, the Brothers plays twice on the last weekend of 2019, taking on Albany CBA and then having a game against Canisius, from Buffalo.