ONONDAGA COUNTY – Based on the evidence at hand, it will require something truly special for anyone to deny Section III ice hockey championships to Skaneateles and West Genesee again.
Both of their respective sectional semifinals Tuesday night turned into routs as the Lakers, in Division I, wiped out Whitesboro 13-1 at Allyn Arena and the Wildcats, in Division II, dominated Watertown IHC and prevailed 7-1 at Shove Park.
About the only question Skaneateles, still no. 2 in the state Division II rankings, had going into the sectional playoffs was how it would fare following an 11-day break.
As it turned out, the combination of hard practices and timely rest had the Lakers primed to go. It also helped that Whitesboro had played the day before in the second round, winning 4-3 at Oswego.
Confronted with a second long road trip in as many days and a well-rested opponent, Whitesboro saw things start to get away after notching its only goal in the first period.
Already up 3-1 going to the second, Skaneateles struck for five goals in that frame and five more in the third, ultimately taking 51 shots while on the way to a season-high total on the scoreboard.
Four of those goals came from Jack Marquardt, a new career high. Trevor Jensen, Cole Palmer and Braedan Taggart each scored twice, with Jensen getting three assists and Palmer and Taggart two assists apiece.
Kaden Rutledge and Sutton Paro also had three-assist outings, but Casey Morrissey topped them all with four assists to go with his lone tally. Rutledge and Andrew Gaglione earned single goals as Sean Kerwick got two assists, with assists also credited to Jack Torrey and Luke Mizro.
Over in Camillus, West Genesee, fresh off a 6-0 shutout of Mohawk Valley in the quarterfinal round, now met IHC, who had gone on the road to beat no. 3 seed Cazenovia 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 15 to get this far.
Just like in a 6-1 decision on this same Shove Park ice two weeks earlier, the Wildcats forced the Cavalilers into a defensive mode from the outset, probing throughout the first period and waiting for a breakthrough.
It came when, four-on-four, Jonah Vormwold pounced on his own rebound and scored with 55.2 seconds left in a frame where WG took 15 shots to IHC’s two.
Early in the second, Nick Meluni converted on the power play, but the game got away in a quick sequence midway through the period.
Chace Cogan, whose only previous goal this season came in the first IHC meeting, converted again to make it 3-0. Less than 10 seconds later, the Wildcats charged again and Meluni put it past Brodie McGregor for his second goal of the night.
Vormwold, who spent all night leading charges that were often turned back, notched two goals less than a minute apart in the third to complete his hat trick, and David Petrus added a goal in the late stages.
Setting up all of these scoring chances, Jacob Pensabene and Matt Schneid finished with three assists apiece. Jackson Pensabene, Jack Werbeck, Ryan Long, Logan Dewaters and Luke Alfieri also earned assists.
This leads to next Monday’s sectional championship games at Upstate Medical University Arena at the War Memorial. At 5 p.m., the Division I title game pits West Genesee against Rome Free Academy, whose 2-0 shutout of Cicero-North Syracuse in the other semifinal brought the Black Knights to its first title game in 10 years.
Then, in the Division II sectional final, it’s Skaneateles against Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt, who went on the road and, in its semifinal, knocked off no. 2 seed New Hartford 2-1 in overtime, avenging two regular-season losses to the Spartans.
