CENTRAL NEW YORK – An eight-game win streak spanning December and January lifted the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team to the top 10 of the state Division II rankings.
And that was when things got tougher, starting with a 3-0 defeat on Jan. 12 to the same Skaneateles side that shut them out back in December.
More alarming, though, was last Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to New Hartford at Onondaga Nation Arena where a late-game lead got away.
New Hartford was just 6-5-1 and had just gone through a wild 10-9 loss to Cortland-Homer on Jan. 13, but the Spartans shored up its defense in a big way on this night.
Gavin Parks assisted on goals by Ben Bristol-Murray and Alex Binsack that helped CBA/J-D gain a 2-1 edge through two periods, but New Hartford limited the hosts to just 18 shots.
And in the third period the Spartans manage to net the tying and go-ahead goals, with Rowan Gall, Chad Hull and Gabriel Syrotynski each finding the net.
Two nights later, CBA/J-D’s scheduled game against Clinton was postponed due to weather that kept the Warriors from traveling to Nedrow.
But the two sides would play Friday at Clinton Arena, and it was all Brothers as it smashed its way to a 9-1 victory to break its brief skid and improve its overall mark to 11-3.
A 2-1 margin through one period grew when the Brothers put up seven unanswered goals over the course of the next two periods, with Parks, Joe Dotterer and Quinn Wimer each scoring twice.
Bristol-Murray and Will Sharlow had matching totals of three assists as Binsack, Nate Vault and Ryan Hayden each finished with one goal and one assist. Jack Dement got two assists, as did Finn Wheeler.
Fayetteville-Manlius found itself in a wild game last Wednesday against Cazenovia at the SUNY-Morrisville IcePlex where Greg Manzi had a night to remember, nearly carrying his team to victory, yet having to settle for a 7-7 tie.
Shamus Newcomb got Cazenovia in front early in the first period, only to have F-M counter with three unanswered goals, two of them by Greg Manzi.
Up 3-1, F-M saw the Lakers make its own surge early in the second with four goals from four different players, yet could not contain Manzi, who pulled off a natural hat trick and worked his goal total to five by period’s end.
The Hornets led, 6-5, going to the third, but in continuing the game’s theme the Lakers netted the tying and go-ahead goals, only to see Will Sanzone pull F-M even again late in regulation with his second goal of the night.
Neither side was able to convert in OT, Cazenovia seeing seven different players earn its seven goals and Chris Finger finish with 39 saves, two more than Lakers counterpart Tucker Ives.
Brian Tonkovich, Tyler Mayne and Joe Leveroni each got credit for assists as, for Cazenovia, Jack Donlin and Forrest Ives combined for five assists to go with their single goals.
Back home at State Fair Coliseum to face Saranac on Friday, F-M lost, 4-2, to see its record dip to 4-8-4 overall.
Saranac used three goals in the final period to break out of a 1-1 tie, overcoming Finger’s 36 saves. Mayne and Charlie Lorraine had one goal apiece, with assists going to Leveroni, Colden Ives, Henry Dougherty and Mike Laduke.
