ROME – Little, if anything, separated the West Genesee ice hockey team from Rome Free Academy in last winter’s Section III Division I championship game, and even now the gap between them is small – if it even exists.
In the regular season’s most anticipated game, the undefeated, state no. 1-ranked Wildcats would play the undefeated, state no. 11-ranked Black Knights to a 2-2 tie Tuesday night at Kennedy Arena.
Every RFA fan remembered what happened at the Syracuse War Memorial last winter, a title game where the Black Knights, tied 1-1 in the third period, thought it had scored the go-ahead goal, only to have it disallowed despite some evidence that the puck had gone in the net.
WG went on to win that game 2-1 on Jonah Vormwold’s short-handed goal. Ever since, the two sides tried hard not to look ahead to their next meeting, but their great records this winter only added to the hype of their reunion.
By the time the puck dropped in Rome, every corner of Kennedy Arena was packed with fans, and while the game was the main attraction RFA used the occasion to honor one of its former players Michael Jensen, who later became a Syracuse police offer and was killed in the line of duty in April 2024.
All of the pent-up emotions of the night led to a quick start for the home team. Miles Mendiola put a shot past Luke Beck before the game was five minutes old and the Black Knights led 1-0.
Answering it, the Wildcats pulled even with Jacob Pensabene’s goal assisted by Vormwold, only to have Tyler Lokker convert late in the period leaving WG trailing 2-1 at the intermission.
Early in the second period Vormwold hurt RFA again, landing his 25th goal of the season. Few on either side imagined that it would be the last goal of the night.
WG could not convert on a five-minute power play later in the period, and it would get shut out in the third, too, leaving the Black Knights ample time to go out in front.
Lokker nearly did so in the third, seeing a possible go-ahead shot crash off the post, and for the rest of regulation and overtime the tie remained, Beck working his total to 28 saves and RFA counterpart Donte Sparace getting 34 saves.
Given that this was their only regular-season meeting, the next Wildcats-Black Knights battle might not take place until the sectional finals, where things might get resolved.
