Everyone on the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team was convinced that this Section III Division I semifinal game against West Genesee would prove different than the one it lost to this same team, in this same round, 12 months ago.
But the reality of what took place Wednesday night at Shove Park did not match the Hornets’ dreams as a couple of ill-timed mistakes and the fine all-around game of the Wildcats led to a 4-1 defeat.
There was every reason for F-M to be more confident about this particular semifinal game. It had won nine of its previous 10 games, including a tough 2-1 decision over Rome Free Academy in the Feb. 20 sectional quarterfinal at Cicero Twin Rinks.
It was by that same 2-1 margin that WG had defeated the Hornets in their lone regular-season encounter, but that was on Dec. 10, and both teams had changed and improved plenty in the 2 1/2 months since.
From the opening face-off, F-M’s intent was clear – be physical every time it had the puck and plenty of times it did not. and use its speed to generate opportunities, which did lead to some early chances that the Wildcats turned back.
But when the Hornets took its first penalty of the game, WG immediately capitalized, taking a 1-0 lead 5:32 into the first period as Jeremy Keyes skated around with the puck and, from the point, fired it past Konrad Walberger.
They remained 1-0 for a while, F-M only getting one man advantage and unable to do much with it, even as it killed off a pair of Wildcats power plays.
But when F-M turned it over midway through the second period deep in its own end, Keyes scored again to make it 2-0, a goal the Hornets answered 79 seconds later as John Manzi tipped in a shot from the point, with assists going to Ben Hammond and Will Duncanson.
Late in the period, the Wildcats attacked again, and a shot that Walberger was unable to hold on to got put home by Liam Sexton, so F-M found itself trailing 3-1 going into the third.
Any hopes of a Hornets comeback got shut down by WG’s defense, who limited the visitors to just three shots in those final 15 minutes, even when F-M had a pair of power plays. Keyes would complete his hat trick by earning an empty-net goal with 1:26 left.
As the Wildcats advanced to a sectional rematch against defending state champion Syracuse, F-M completed a 14-7-1 season. A fine senior class, led by Duncanson, Hammond, Josh Kuchinski, Mike Hockenberger and Colin Debejian, departs, with Walberger, Jackson Denton and Spencer Sasenbury among the returnees for 2020-21.
