CENTRAL NEW YORK – Looking up in the Division I standings, the Fayetteville-Manlius ice hockey team saw Cicero-North Syracuse parked in third place right behind the undefeated duo of West Genesee and Rome Free Academy.
And while that was bad enough, the fact that the two sides shared the same home ice of Cicero Twin Rinks was the main reason why their showdown last Tuesday night carried extra heft.
The Hornets would handle this situation quite well, pulling out a 5-4 victory over the state Division I no. 14-ranked Northstars with Jack Lalik moving to the forefront thanks to his hat trick.
Lalik got going early, helping F-M to a 2-1 edge through one period. Slim as that margin was, it still made the difference because of what happened over the next two periods.
Every C-NS push was answered by F-M, Lalik not letting up until he had earned three goals, his first hat trick of the season which put his overall season total at 10 goals.
Henry Dougherty put up a goal and two assists, with Drew Mayne getting one goal and one assist. Tyler Mayne tacked on an assist as F-M overcame four Northstars goals from four different players plus 27 saves from Trevor Smith as Hornets netminder Sean Lemarche had 23 saves.
This was F-M’s only action last week as it would return a week later to face Ontario Bay before challenging reigning two-time state Division II champion Skaneateles at Allyn Arena on Thursday night.
Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt returned to the rink last Friday night to face Whitesboro, who sat second in the Division II standings behind Skaneateles and played the Brothers to a 4-4 tie in December.
Here, though, it was Whitesboro prevailing 4-1, blanking the Brothers after Paul Brown’s first-period goal assisted by Griffon Filighera and Charlie Letourneau.
Despite 27 saves from Justin Buffum, Whitesboro scored twice in the first and once more in each of the next two periods to get clear, Jake Hall leading the way with two goals and an assist as Gavin Aceto and Luke Johnson had the other goals.
