ONONDAGA COUNTY – Even before it took the ice in the Section III Division II playoffs, the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team had a good idea of the specific fate it wanted to avoid.
Of course, the Brothers didn’t want to lose under any circumstances – but seeing how its neighbors from Fayetteville-Manlius had its season end had to be instructive.
Mere seconds from advancing in last Tuesday’s opening-round Division I sectional game against no. 9 seed Baldwinsville at Cicero Twin Rinks, the no. 8 seed Hornets watched it slip away in painful fashion in a 2-1 overtime defeat.
For nearly all of the 51 minutes of regulation, F-M kept the Bees off the board, mostly through the fine work of goaltender Chris Finger, who had 30 saves, nearly equaling the 36 he got shutting out B’ville when the two sides first met in December.
F-M took the lead 4:39 into the second period when a shot through the crease stayed there long enough for Will Sanzone to poke it in before B’ville goalie Nate Sotherden could react.
Then the Hornets dominated the rest of the period, taking 15 shots to the Bees’ three, but not getting it past Sotherden (who finished with 32 saves) again as it remained 1-0 going to the third.
B’ville picked up its pressure in a tense third period, accumulating 13 shots and withstanding a late Hornets power play before pulling Sotherden with 30 seconds left.
Gradually, the pressure picked up, and just as Finger was focusing at the scrum of players in front of him, the Bees’ Casey Gilbert got the puck at the right circle and, with 9.9 seconds left, fired it inside the top left corner of the net.
With all the momentum going into OT, B’ville picked up a power play, and while it wasn’t successful, the attacks that came late in regulation continued.
Just past the six-minute mark, Michael Gregoire picked up the pick inside his own end, drove past center ice and sailed past all the F-defenders, crossing to the middle and then beating Finger for the game-winner.
All this happened before CBA/J-D entered the Division II fray. As the no. 4 seed in an eight-team stepladder format, the Brothers had an opening-round bye.
Then, on Thursday night at Onondaga Nation Arena, CBA/J-D hosted no. 5 seed Auburn, who had edged Cortland-Homer 4-3, in the opening round.
The Brothers and Maroons had split a pair of one-goal decisions in the regular season, but in the one that counted most, CBA/J-D controlled matters start to finish and prevailed 5-1.
Striking the decisive blow early, the Brothers sprinted to a 3-0 advantage by the end of the first period, then kept Auburn from answering until it rendered a single goal in the third, Ben Lovell superb in the net as he stopped 39 of the Maroons’ 40 shots.
Grady Shanley and Quinn Wimer led the attack, Shanley scoring twice and Wimer getting a goal and two assists. Logan Novak and Ryan Hayden also had goals as Griffon Filighera and Brody Novak earned assists.
Not until Monday, when Whitesboro takes on Oswego, will CBA/J-D find out if it faces top seed and defending state champion Skaneateles or no. 2 seed New Hartford in this week’s semifinal round.
