LYSANDER – Nearly three months ago, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team opened at Shove Park and were humbled by West Genesee, scoring the first goal but then getting overwhelmed the rest of the way in a 7-2 loss.
Now the Bees and Wildcats will reunite – on the ice at Upstate Medical University Arena in downtown Syracuse Monday night with the Section III Division I championship on the line.
B’ville secured its spot in the title game Thursday when it defeated Cazenovia 6-3 in the sectional semifinal at Three Rivers Athletic Complex.
Led by the duo of Sam Ciappa and Brayden Penafeather-Stevenson, the Bees broke out of a tight mid-game spot and ultimately prevailed by the same margin as it did when defeating the Lakers 4-1 in mid-January.
For a long while, it looked like the playoff rematch would stay close and tense. Both teams were quiet in the first period except for an exchange where Keegan Lynch scored for B’ville, only to have Jacob Owens answer for Cazenovia just 17 seconds later.
They were still 1-1 when the Lakers went on a power play near the midway point of the second period. As he was clearing the puck, Ciappa did a wide circle around Cazenovia’s net.
Ciappa said he originally intended to just kill more time, but then he saw an opening, went to the right circle and flicked a shot past Cy McCrink for a short-handed goal.
As the period wound down, it remained 2-1, but the Bees picked up a power play in the last minute and, from the right circle, Penafeather-Stevenson sent a wrist shot into the net.
Then, as Penafeather-Stevenson described it, Lynch won the ensuing face-off and passed it to him. Seeing that the Lakers’ defense was, in his words, “flat-footed”, he charged in and beat McCrink top-shelf.
Those two goals by Penafeather-Stevenson were less than six seconds apart.
Almost in an instant, it had turned into a 4-1 Bees lead, one it sought to protect in the third period, especially since goaltender Jon Schirmer had exited with a hand injury, replaced by Nate Sotherden.
After Logan Hull converted for the Lakers to cut it to 4-2, Ciappa returned, pouncing on a puck off the board and, charging up the right side, not letting up until he had scored just 48 seconds after Hull’s tally.
B’ville did get undisciplined with a pair of late penalties, one of which turned into a Jack Donlin goal. But the Bees killed off the other penalty and Matt Carner, back from injury, converted into an empty net in the final minute.
Now it’s B’ville against West Genesee, who shut out reigning champion Syracuse 4-0 in the other semifinal. Penafeather-Stevenson said that he is quite aware of the challenge the Wildcats present.
“West Genesee is a complete team that can wear you down,” he said, adding that his team would have to play 10 times as well as it did in that long-ago season opener.
Ciappa was more confident. “Now, I think we can get them,” he said.
