CENTRAL NEW YORK – What a difference a couple of results can make, in terms of how the Division I ice hockey regular-season championship shook out.
In first place when the week started, Syracuse lost twice and, in the process, dropped all the way to fourth, which allowed West Genesee to ultimately share the league title with Baldwinsville and, because it beat the Bees head-to-head, snare the top seed for the Section III playoffs.
A week removed from its epic 6-5 win over the Wildcats, Syacuse went to Lysander last Tuesday night and found itself on the wrong end of a tense 5-4 decision.
Each side was 13-1-1 going into the game, and played through a scoreless first period. Then Sam Ciappa scored 1:48 into the second period and Reese Gilmore converted 46 seconds later to put B’ville up 2-0.
Syracuse battled back, Mike Madigan converting on a rebound and Jameson Bucktooth converting off an odd angle on the power play to tie it, 2-2, only to have Gilmore answer 38 seconds later.
Down 3-2 going to the third period, Syracuse once more pull even with Colin Johnson’s shot from the right point, and once more the Bees reclaimed the lead when Matt Carner converted on the power play 66 seconds later.
Owen Mahar found the net with 8:21 left to tie it again, 4-4. They were still that way when Syracuse was called for a penalty with 2:20 left.
With one minute left in regulation, Keegan Lynch passed it to Ciappa who, from the left circle, sent a wrist shot into the net. Still with time, the Cougars pulled goalie Connor Rose and applied pressure in the final seconds, but the Bees’ defense turned Syracuse away.
Syracuse did handle Ithaca 9-0 on Wednesday, but a far bigger game loomed on Friday at the Morrisville State IcePlex against Cazenovia, who sat in fourth place in Division I.
And the Lakers, by prevailing 4-1, tied the Cougars for third place in the league and secured the tie-breaker for the no. 3 seed in the process.
Syracuse was kept off the board until the third period, shut down by an effective Cazenovia defense anchored by goalie Cy McCrink, who stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced.
Forrest Ives and Jake Owens put in goals to help the Lakers break a scoreless tie, with Logan Hull and Josh Whaley adding late tallies to more than offset Syracuse’s late-game goal.
Benefiting from all this was West Genesee, who routed Watertown IHC 15-1 last Tuessday in what turned out to be the league clincher, Will Schneid setting a new career mark by netting six goals to go with two assists.
Ryan Stratton scored twice and got five assists, with Jeremy Keyes adding two goals and one assist. Ryan Considine had a goal and two assists as Ryan Kemp and Jess Desena also found the net and Jared Jaeger earned four assists.
A 4-0 shutout of Auburn followed on Friday, WG finishing its regular season at 14-3 but 10-1 in league play.
Skaneateles, sitting at no. 2 in the state in Division II, began its homestretch last Monday with a big second period that decided a 5-1 win over Whitesboro.
Brayden Miller’s first-period goal helped the Warriors stay even with the Lakers early, but Skaneateles took over in the second, getting three unanswered tallies, and the defense limited Whitesboro to 12 shots overall.
Luke Renaud, with two goals and one assist, led a well-balanced attack where Garrett Krieger and Jack Torrey both got one goal and one assist. Aidan McGowan also scored as Henry Major got two assists and Jack Weeks, Sean Kerwick and Colin Morrissey also found the assist column.
Even better was the Lakers’ 9-0 romp over Oswego a night later, a five-goal first period quickly settling matters as Renaud, Torrey and Andrew Gaglione each scored twice.
Renaud picked up three assists, as did Major, with Krieger landing a goal and two assists. Carter Corbett had one goal and one assist, with Cullen Heintz adding a goal.
