NEW HARTFORD – More than a decade has passed since the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team reached its pinnacle with the 2013 state championship.
While a Section III championship would not compare in terms of level of achievement, the Brothers knocking off the reigning state champions from Skaneateles on the ice at Upstate Medical Arena at War Memorial next Monday night would, if accomplished, almost feel as big.
CBA/J-D earned that opportunity Wednesday when it went on the road and knocked off state no. 4-ranked New Hartford 2-1 in overtime in the sectional Division II semifinal at New Hartford Recreation Center.
In some ways, things began to break for the Brothers earlier in the week, when Whitesboro knocked off no. 3 seed Oswego in the second round of the stepladder tournament.
As the lowest remaining seed, Whitesboro ended up at Skaneateles, where it lost 13-1 to the Lakers, and CBA/J-D instead got to go to New Hartford, whom it lost to twice in the regular season, though the last encounter was a close 3-2 decision in January.
Off for 12 days, the Spartans were not sharp out of the gate, and the Brothers played solid, consistent defense during a scoreless first period, Ben Lovell turning back all 11 shots he faced.
CBA/J-D also was blanked early, but in the second Logan Novak, off a feed from Jack Dement, took a shot that deflected off a Spartan player’s stick and past goalie Derek Joy.
And the Brothers held that 1-0 advantage for a while, even as New Hartford’s pressure picked up and it went to the third period with the hosts still trailing.
That changed with 4:51 left in regulation, all of the Spartans’ pressure finally leading to a goal when a scramble around the net resulted in Gavin LaPolla converting, with the assist to Rowan Gall.
Given the timing of that goal, it only figured that New Hartford had all the momentum going into OT, but the intermission break to clean the ice allowed CBA/J-D to regroup.
During the extra period, Lovell continued to stand out, running his total to 48 saves out of 49 shots sent to him. Then, nearly 11 minutes into the OT, the Brothers got the break it needed.
Gavin Dunford’s pass got James Stanton in the clear, and the senior broke away, ultimately beating Joy for the game-winner and earning CBA/J-D a championship-game opportunity to take down the Skaneateles dynasty.
