Area high school ice hockey will look a bit different in the 2023-24 season as Liverpool decided to join forces with Fulton on a team called CNY Fusion, with Fulton serving as the home base.

Already, the project appears a roaring success, given that Fusion began its first joint campaign last Wednesday night by knocking off Cortland-Homer by a score of 4-2.

The Golden Eagles were a Section III Division II finalist last winter, but only managed a pair of second-period goals that Fusion would match after it grabbed an early 1-0 lead.

Then Fusion blanked Cortland-Homer in the third period to secure the win as Trevor Smith turned away 27 of 29 shots in the net and four different player netted goals.

Dan Devendorf, Andrew Gabor, Gavin Rodman and Reilly Bizgia had those goals, with Alex Kirkby, Calen Brown and Will Burns joining Bizgia and Gabor in the assist column.

Cicero-North Syracuse still competes under its own name and at its own facility, the Twin Rinks at Midstate Community Athletic Center, where last Wednesday night the Northstars used an impressive third period to beat Clinton 6-3.

Neither team scored until the second period, which ended in a 2-2 tie. But C-NS’s depth made the difference as it put in four goals during the final period and Cole Prevost led the way.

Earning a three-goal hat trick, Prevost was joined by Andrew Davis, who scored twice and got one assist. Hayden Scott also had two assists asTyler Milewski had the other goal. Nate Bustin, Jase Knopp, Drew Matyasik and Chase Mearon joined Davis and Milewski with single assists.

A road trip north followed, with C-NS facing St. Lawrence and Canton and managing to split those games.

The Northstars topped St. Lawrence 5-1 on Friday night, but then fell to Canton 3-2 a day later, leaving C-NS at 2-1 before a game Wednesday at Auburn as Fusion would travel Tuesday to the Nexus Center in Utica to face Mohawk Valley.