LYSANDER – Apparently, for the Baldwisville ice hockey team to get a victory over West Genesee, it must be full of excitement, drama and high stakes.
That certainly proved true Tuesday night at Three Rivers Athletic Complex when, with first place on the line in the Section III Division I ranks, the Bees held off the Wildcats 5-4 for its 13th win in a row.
B’ville had not prevailed over WG since their epochal battle in the 2018 sectional semifinals at Shove Park when, after four overtimes and a shoot-out, the Bees stunned the undefeated Wildcats, only to lose the sectional final to Syracuse.
Here it was simply an important regular-season battle between two sides ranked in the state top 10, B’ville proving, right from the outset, that it was far removed from the side the Wildcats beat 6-1 two months ago in Camillus.
Carrying most of the play in the first period, the Bees went up at the 6:11 mark when Trevor Sutton, on the power play, fired a shot from just beyond the blue line that fluttered past WG goaltender Luke Beck.
Garrett Sutton then made it 2-0 late in the first period, only to have the Wildcats’ Will Schneid answer 25 seconds later and then tie it on the power play early in the second.
It didn’t stay 2-2 for long. Nick Cary struck two minutes after Schneid’s tally and, again, WG quickly responded, Jack Giannuzzi taking just 39 seconds to beat Jon Schirmer and make it 3-3.
Never trailing in this game, B’ville took the lead for good with Garrett Sutton’s shot from the point at the 9:44 mark of the second. Even more important, as it turned out, was Fernando Moreno deflecting a shot into the net with just 35 seconds left in the frame.
Carrying that 5-3 lead into the third, the Bees would spend most of that period in its own end, defending hard as the Wildcats controlled the flow of play.
Liam Burns converted on the power play with 10:08 left to cut the margin to one, and WG pushed hard to get back even, setting up a memorable conclusion.
After a brief Bees flurry with one minute left, the Wildcats attacked and pulled Beck for the extra skater. It worked the puck around until, with 10.9 seconds to play, a shot got through traffic and past Schirmer.
WG’s players celebrated – only to have the officials wave off the goal because they determined that the puck was hit by a high stick. That forced the face-off into the other end of the ice, allowing B’ville to hang on.
Jamie Gipe, Brayden Penafeather-Stevenson and Brady Garcia each got credited with assists as Schirmer finished with 18 saves, less than Beck’s total of 24 saves.
