ONONDAGA COUNTY – When it took the ice at Onondaga Nation Arena and entered the Section III Division II playoffs, the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team knew the assignment.
Win here, and the no. 3 seed Brothers would get another chance at no. 2 seed Cortland-Homer in the semifinals – and that’s exactly what happened.
The Division II playoffs offered a stepladder format. Cortland-Homer and top seed Skaneateles had byes straight into the semifinals, while CBA/J-D and no. 4 seed Clinton avoided the opening round.
Once Whitesboro beat Auburn and New Hartford topped Oswego, the next round was set, and CBA/J-D would welcome the Spartans to Nedrow last Thursday as Clinton met the Warriors.
Having split two one-goal games this season, another close battle between the Brothers and New Hartford was expected, but here CBA/J-D started and finished strong and, by a 5-2 margin, ended the Spartans’ season.
Gaining an early 2-1 edge, the Brothers would keep that slim margin through a scoreless second period by keeping the puck in New Hartford’s end and rarely letting it attack.
All that pressure took a toll and, in the third, CBA/J-D got clear, its attack deep and well-balanced with four points from two different players.
Quinn Wimer scored twice, with Alex Binsack and Gavin Parks each adding one goal and one assist and Finn Wheeler earning two assists.
Nate Vault, Joe Dotterer and Ben Bristol-Murray had one assist apiece, the Brothers earning that semifinal date next Tuesday against Cortland-Homer as Skaneateles met Clinton (who beat Whitesboro 7-3) in the other semifinal.
All of this beat what happened to Fayetteville-Manilus, who saw its season end last Tuesday in the opening round of the sectional Division I playoffs at the expense of the team with whom it shares State Fair Coliseum.
Liverpool ousted the Hornets 4-0, a big reversal from the 5-3 victory F-M earned when these two sides played Jan. 31.
Back then, the Hornets had solved the Warriors’ star goaltender, James Welch, but here he turned back everything, including all the shots in a scoreless first period when F-M had a great chance to go in front.
Inspired by this, Liverpool took charge with three unanswered goals in the second, tacking on an insurance tally in the third as Luke Haskins scored twice and Alex Kirkby and Bradley Cole had the other goals.
Sean LaMarche, playing most of the game in goal, recorded 26 saves. F-M would take 25 shots, and Welch would stop all of them, the Warriors advancing to face top seed Baldwinsville in the quarterfinals as the Hornets’s season ended with a 6-11-4 record.
