CENTRAL NEW YORK – Already, a lot of anticipation awaited the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team, which would present itself Tuesday when the Brothers welcomed reigning state Division II champion Skaneateles to Onondaga Nation Arena.
CBA/J-D has already shown what kind of offense it could produce, first with nine goals against Cazenovia and then another late outbreak in last Tuesday’s 6-3 win over the Syracuse Cougars.
Neither team scored until the second period – but when it did happen, CBA/J-D was ready for the pace, grabbing a 4-2 advantage and then matching whatever Syracuse did late.
Jack Dement, Quinn Wimer and Kyle Gaffney each scored twice, with Dement getting two assists and Wimer one assist. Logan Novak and James Stanton also earned points as Justin Buffum stopped 32 of 35 shots.
At Casey Park on Friday, CBA/J-D met Auburn, where it turned into a tense struggle and the Brothers trailed in the late going before demonstrating its poise and resolve, rallying to beat the Maroons 3-2.
They traded first-period goals 30 seconds apart – Novak for CBA/J-D, John Pineau for Auburn – then stayed tied until Chris Tarby’s second-period goal gave the Maroons a 2-1 advantage.
It was still that way when a 60-second stretch of hockey in the third period turned it all around.
Grady Shanley jumped in amid an all-out attack and pushed home the tying goal. Then, before Auburn could regroup, Gaffney beat Jonah Young for the go-ahead goal The CBA/J-D defense made it hold up, Ben Lovell recording 17 saves. Jacob Dubrey assisted on two of the Brothers’ goals, with assists also credited to Dement and Gavin Dunford.
Fayetteville-Manlius had its own game with Syracuse on Thursday night and looked to be in control until the Cougars fought back late and handed the Hornets a 4-2 defeat.
Henry Dougherty and Drew Mayne both scored to help F-M gain a 2-1 advantage through two periods, with Jack Lalik, Teddy Smart and Joey Leveroni each getting assists.
But Syracuse tied it early in the third, then went in front as it overcame Chris Finger’s 23 saves. Four different Cougars – Owen Etoll, Drew Schneider, Nick Rayfield and Ryan Victoriano – earned Syracuse’s four goals as the Hornets fell to 3-2 overall in advance of Tuesday’s clash with reigning state Division I champion West Genesee at Shove Park.
