CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the Baldwinsville ice hockey team made its way to Skaneateles for the Duke Schneider Tournament, it did so sporting a win streak mostly built up through an undefeated December – and then kept it up all the way to beating the host Lakers for that tournament title.
The championship game, played Saturday at Allyn Arena, was an accurate reflection of why the Bees have done so well this season, its defense the decisive factor in a 2-0 victory over the Lakers.
Few teams ever are able to slow down the potent Skaneateles attack. Yet the B’ville back line constantly gave the Lakers problems from the outset, rarely allowing consistent pressure.
All told, Skaneateles had just 16 shots, which Nate Sotherden turned back, not even half of what the Bees did while putting pressure on Lakers goalie Chad Lowe.
Though Lowe was stingy with 33 saves, he did allow single tallies in the first and third periods, each of them assisted by Keegan Lynch as Braeden Penafeather-Stevenson and Fernando Moreno scored.
A night earlier in the opening round, before Skaneateles beat reigning state Division II champion Pelham 4-3 in overtime, B’ville faced Section VI’s Williamsville South and displayed some serious firepower late in a 7-3 victory over the Billies.
Tied 1-1 after one period, the Bees inched in front in the second, but saved its big work for the third, where it wore down Williamsville South’s defense and scored five times.
Displaying its depth, B’ville had goals from seven different players – Penafeather-Stevenson, Moreno, Nick Cary, Trevor Sutton, Harrison Bragg, Mitch Burlingame and Brady Garcia. Jamie Gipe
had two assists as single assists went to Lynch, Nolan Burlingame and Leo Vona.
That undefeated run through December concluded on Dec. 29 at Three Rivers Athletic Complex when the Bees steadily pulled away from visiting Auburn on the way to a 5-1 victory over the Maroons.
A 4-0 advantage through two periods was built up by a steady, well-balanced B’ville attack led again by Lynch, who dished out three assists, and a defense that limited Auburn to just seven shots compared to the Bees’ 38.
Penafeather-Stevenson scored twice, with Moreno and Casey Gilbert each getting one goal and one assist. Nolan Burlingame also found the net asGipe got two assists and Garrett utton one assist.
Seeking its seventh win in a row last Tuesday night, B’ville went north to face Watertown IHC and again relied on its tried-and-true formula to defeat the Cavaliers 4-1.
For the sixth consecutive games, the Bees’ defense allowed just one goal, to IHC’s Luc LaFex in the first period, but that was counteracted by an early B’ville flurry and backed up by Jon Schirmer stopping 23 of the Cavaliers’ 24 shots.
Again leading the way, Penafeather-Stevenson got a goal and assist, with Gipe, Cary and Trevor Sutton also in the goal-scoring column as Jimmy Reynolds chimed in with an assist.
Now at 10-1 following the tournament win at Skaneateles, B’ville is off most of next week, only playing Friday at home against Cazenovia.
