CENTRAL NEW YORK – Ever since the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey program started, it had looked toward West Genesee, not just as a rival to contend with, but as a model to which it eventually wanted to aspire.
And while the Hornets have, most of the time, not come close to usurping the Wildcats’ hold atop the area large-school ranks, it very nearly defeated the reigning state Division I champions Dec. 19 on WG’s home ice at Shove Park.
Helped by goals from Will Sanzone and Jack Lalik and getting another tremendous performance in goal from Chris Finger, F-M led 2-0 deep into the third period, poised to earn a landmark victory.
Yet the Wildcats made it all the way back with all-out pressure and an extra attacker, seeing Nick Meluni and Ryan Long each find the net to force overtime, where on a breakway Jonah Vormwald converted to help the home side prevail 3-2.
Joey Leveroni and Connor McDonald each earned assists on F-M’s goals, with Finger getting 30 saves as WG counterpart Luke Beck had 28 saves. Jesse Desena got two assists for the Wildcats, with single assists going to Jacob Pensabene and Christian Ball.
That same night at Onondaga Nation Arena, Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt broke out of its mid-December skid against Clinton thanks to Logan Novak’s hat trick, which helped the Brothers fight past the Comets by that exact same 3-2 score.
Only this game didn’t need overtime. Novak had the only goal in the first period, which proved to be the difference since Clinton got on the board in the second with tallies from Aiden Soika and Jack Elia.
Novak answered both of them, converting for the second and third time. Then CBA/J-D protected that slim margin in a tense final period and did so because Ben Lovell turned back every attempt the Comets made to tie it, finishing with 33 saves.
Put into another close game last Friday against Whitesboro, the Brothers did not have the same good fortune, falling 4-3 in overtime.
Both sides scored twice in the first period. Then it stayed 2-2 until the third, when CBA/J-D converted again, but Whitesboro countered and then, in the OT period, netted the game-winner past Justin Buffum, who to that point had made 22 saves.
Griffon Fillighera had two of the Brothers’ three goals, the other going to Jack Dement. Gavin Dunford, Will Sharlow, Quinn Wimer and Denver Qiao each picked up assists as Jax Hall scored twice for Whitesboro and goalie Mason Stanton stopped 35 of CBA/J-D’s 38 shots.
Having fallen to 4-3 overall, the Brothers will look to recover late this week with games against Cicero-North Syracuse and Norwood-Norfolk at the Cicero Twin Rinks, while F-M takes its own 4-3 mark to the Cortland-Homer Tournament.
