CENTRAL NEW YORK – Whether the unbeaten streaks were long or short, ice hockey teams from Skaneateles and West Genesee both recorded impressive wins at the tail end of November.
The Lakers, who beat the Wildcats 3-0 on Nov. 23 at Shove Park, then routed Fayetteville-Manlius and, in last Tuesday’s game against Cortland-Homer, ran its unbeaten streak to 61 when it beat the Golden Eagles 5-2.
Racing out to a 3-0 first-period advantage, Skaneateles saw Henry Major, Andrew Gaglione and Garrett Krieger each pick up goals.
Krieger scored again and Luke Renaud tacked on a goal as Major, Carter Corbett and Jack Torrey both picked up a pair of assists. Jack Weeks added an assist.
A night later, it was Skaneateles against reigning sectional Division I champion Syracuse at Meachem Rink, the Cougars again featuring several area players from the western suburbs.
Even a fine defensive performance from Syracuse could not keep the Lakers from extending the unbeaten streak to 62 thanks to another 3-0 shutout.
Once again, it was defense that proved the primary factor. The Cougars had all kinds of chances throughout the night, nearly doubling the Lakers’ output of shots, but Chad Lowe turned them all back, recording 30 saves.
They were scoreless until the second period, when Weeks and Gaglione found the net three minutes apart. Then Skaneateles kept it from getting close, with Luke Renaud providing the clincher with 4:45 to play.
Syracuse would tie Bethlehem (Section II) 3-3 on Saturday, the two sides trading all of the goals in the first two periods before a late stalemate as Will Glass, Colin Johnson and Owen Mahar picked up the goals, with assists going to Vern Cooke, Jameson Bucktooth, Mike Madigan, Liam Mahar and Tommy Rioux.
Meanwhile, West Genesee welcomed rival Baldwinsville to Shove Park and, keyed by a surge late in the first period, pulled away from the Bees and claimed a 7-2 victory.
The Wildcats trailed 1-0 when, with two minutes left in the opening period, Ryan Stratton tied it. Then Will Schneid scored with 6.8 seconds to play to give WG the lead for good.
In the second period, the Wildcats converted twice on the power play and once more short-handed, with Stratton and Schneid adding goals to go with Jeremy Keyes’ tally.
Schneid completed his hat trick in the third period as Liam Burns also scored, with Ryan Considine and Jack Gianuzzi each getting two assists. Single assists went to Kyle Evanchak, Michael Hard and Jared Jaeger as Luke Beck stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
At Oswego two nights later, WG ramped up its production and hit double digits on the scoreboard during a 10-1 victory over the Buccaneers.
Thirteen different Wildcats earned at least one point, with only Will Shields and Jack Mellen scoring twice as Shields also got a pair of assists. Stratton, Schneid and Burns each got one goal and one assist, with Evanchak, Jaeger and Patrick Quinn also finding the net as Keyes, Hard and Ryan Considine earning two assists apiece.
Back on Wednesday, the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team moved to 4-0 on the season by handling Ithaca 8-1, scoring six straight times in the last two periods to pull away.
Kelly Goldberger stepped up with her first hat trick, finishing with three goals and one assist. Scout Oudemool scored twice and got three assists, while Lilly Marquardt and Alexis Fassinger also had three assists. Rebecca Cain, Rachelle Cain and Lizzy Sachar each had one goal and one assist.
