CENTRAL NEW YORK – Having hovered around the .500 mark throughout January, the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team rose above it with an emphatic effort on home ice.
The Brothers handled Whitesboro 6-2 last Tuesday night at Onondaga Nation Arena, jumping out to a quick 2-0 advantage through one period and not getting caught.
A three-goal surge in the final period settled matters as James Stanton and Ryan Hayden each produced two goals and one assist, with Quinn Wimer getting a goal and two assists.
Gavin Dunford was close behind them, with one goal and one assist. Grady Shanley and Kyle Gaffney also picked up assists as Ben Lovell, in goal, stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
Then, facing Oswego Thursday night on home ice, CBA/J-D appeared headed for another victory, only to see the Buccaneers come back and ultimately forge a 3-3 tie.
The Brothers jumped out 2-0 and were still up 3-1 through two periods, having seen Jack Dement score twice and Gaffney add a goal as Logan Novak gained a pair of assists.
Oswego rallied, though, converting twice in the third period as Ian Cady finished with a pair of goals, inspired by the work of Bucs goalie Mason Kurlitovich, who amassed 39 saves. Lovell, for his part, had 26 saves.
Fayetteville-Manlius met up last Tuesday night at Cicero-North Syracuse at the Twin Rinks facility they both call home this season, with the Hornets falling 3-2 to the Northstars in overtime.
F-M led most of the way, establishing a 2-1 margin by the end of the second period as Nico Capriotti and Noah Chen put in the goals, with assists going to Walker Thomson and Tyler Mayne.
C-NS battled back, though, tying it in the third and winning it in the OT period with an attack carried by Hayden Scott, who scored twice and assisted on the other goal, by Tanner Long. Chris Finger finished with 29 saves.
Climbing back above .500 last Thursday night, F-M defeated Ontario Bay 4-1, blanked in the first two periods by Storm goalie Aiden Terry, who would finish with 27 saves.
However, the Hornets broke through in the third, tying it, going in front and then adding a pair of insurance tallies as Chen, Mayne, Connor McDonald and Brian Tonkovich each found the net. Joey Leveroni managed two assists, helped by single assists from Mayne, Capriotti and Thomson.
Not able to rest, F-M had Ithaca was coming to the Twin Rinks a night later, but putting together another fine all-around effort, the Hornets shut out the Little Red 3-0, and Finger was at the forefront, stopping all 30 of the shots Ithaca took.
Again displaying scoring balance, F-M saw Thomson, Capriotti and Jack Lalik each put in goals. Mayne, Leveroni, Henry Dougherty and Michael LaDuke joined Thomson in the assist column, and F-M would take a two-game win streak into home games this week against CBA/J-D and Mohawk Valley.
