CENTRAL NEW YORK – As it built up an eight-game win streak, the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team remembered its only blemish, a Dec. 8 shutout at the hands of Skaneateles.
With a chance to get even, and climb atop the Division II standings, the Brothers welcomed the Lakers to Onondaga Nation Arena last Thursday night, only to have the visitors do exactly what it had done at Allyn Arena and keep CBA/J-D off the board in a 3-0 defeat.
Good as it felt going into this game, it went away in a 91-second span early in the first period, starting when Skaneatles’ Charlie Major, passing from the right side, found Rutledge on a breakaway and Andrew Gaglione put it past Brothers goalie Justin Buffum.
Then a Brothers turnover was converted by Carter Corbett, making it 2-0, where it would stay until the second period, when Major again offered a perfect pass, this time from the right corner to a wide-open Kaden Rutledge at the left post, who had an open net to deposit the puck.
Once it was out in front, the Lakers could afford to sit back on defense and watch CBA/J-D possess the puck in what turned out to be a game-long futile attempt to answer.
Three times on power plays, and plenty of other times at even strength, the Brothers’ attacks were turned back, Lakers goalie Chad Lowe not letting up until he had 31 saves and had equaled the shutout he had recorded against CBA/J-D the first time around.
Skaneateles had added to the game’s importance when it beat Cortland-Homer 4-1 two nights earlier, avenging an early-December overtime defeat to the Golden Eagles.
As that went on, CBA/J-D, not looking ahead in any way, used its scoring balance and defense to put away Auburn by that same 4-0 margin.
The Brothers scored twice in the first period and then kept that 2-0 margin until doubling it in the third, with Finn Wheeler getting one goal and one assist and Joe Dotterer adding a pair of assists.
Quinn Wimer, James Stanton and Kyle Gaffney also found the scoring column, with Logan Nowak earning an assist. CBA/J-D’s defense held the Maroons to just nine shots.
Fayetteville-Manlius had a busy week centered around facing state Division I no. 3-ranked West Genesee last Thursday at State Fair Coliseum, where it lost 4-1 to the Wildcats.
Chris Finger had a great game in the net, recording 37 saves, yet the Hornets didn’t get on the board until Nikolas Segreev scored in the third period off feeds from Joe Leveroni and Greg Manzi.
Two nights earlier, against Watertown IHC, the Hornets dominated the game, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage through two periods on the way to beating the Cavaliers 9-2.
In a rare occurrence, a pair of F-M players got hat tricks, Manzi and Connor McDonald each putting in three goals as Levroni, Will Sanzone and Charlie Lorraine had two assists apiece.
Single goals went to Leveroni along with Noah Chen and Brady Moore. Nico Capriotti, Mike LaDuke, Colden Ives, Walker Thomson and Gavin Patnode also got assists.
