CENTRAL NEW YORK – All of the struggles and lopsided defeats the Baldwinsville ice hockey team endured early this winter may end up worth it if what was shown late in January continues into February – and the post-season.
Coming off back-to-back wins, the Bees made it three in a row on Jan. 25 at the outdoor rink of Broome Community College with a come-from-behind, 5-4 overtime victory over Broome County.
Just as it had to do against Mohawk Valley two days earlier (rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-4 against the Jugglers), B’ville found itself trailing Broome 4-3 after two periods.
Alessio McGrane had recorded a pair of assists as Dan Hinman, A.J. McPheeters and Owen Hawthorne found the net. Now, in the third period McGrane would take it on himself, netting the tying goal with five minutes left in regulation.
Then in the OT period McGrane didn’t waste much time, needing just 90 seconds to net the game-winner, his fourth point of the afternoon.
Zach Bice shut out Broome in the third period on his way to 27 saves overall. Mitch Burlingame, Tyler Michalek, Dom Purtell, Rocco Weaver and Rylan MacCollum joined McGrane in the assist column.
Great as this was, what B’ville did as a follow-up was better.
Going to Colgate University’s Alumni Arena last Monday night, the Bees put together perhaps its best all-around effort of the season against a strong Cazenovia side, pulling away to beat the Lakers 7-3.
These same two teams had tied 2-2 in Lysander less than two weeks earlier, but in the rematch the Bees, confident from its recent win streak, broke out in front in the second period with three goals after they were tied 1-1 through one.
And that 4-2 advantage kept growing in the third, B’ville largely feeding off the tremendous work in goal by Chase Brooks, who stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced.
McGrane and MacCollum each netted two goals, with McPheeters adding a goal and two assists. Burlingame and Dom Derito both got one goal and one assist, with single assists going to Jake Dubois and Joe Toland.
Now the trick was to keep this up, the Bees traveling north to face Watertown IHC Wednesday night with a chance to climb to the .500 mark for the first time all season.
The Cavaliers would not let it happen, though. In a tense affair dominated by the two defenses, IHC edged the Bees 1-0.
They were still scoreless when, in the second period, Aidan Trimper put the Cavaliers in front, his goal assisted by Isaac Kuhn and Owen O’Donnell.
Though Bice turned back everything else and finished with 27 saves, B’ville could not pull back even, ultimately taking 22 shots that IHC goalie Brodie MacGregor would stop.
Back home on Saturday afternoon B’ville faced New Hartford, from the Division II ranks, again found itself trailing late– and again pulled off a comeback, which led to a 4-4 tie with the Spartans.
New Hartford used a trio of second-period goals to move out in front 4-2, but the Bees’ relentless pressure on Spartans goalie Xavier Obernesser (who finished with 44 saves) led to scoring twice in the final period to catch back up.
Weaver led the comeback, finishing with two goals and one assist. McGrane had a goal and assist, with Hinman earning the other goal and Derito contributing an assist. Brooks, getting another turn in goal, recorded 23 saves.
One more week remained in the regular season, with B’ville (7-9-2 overall) taking on Syracuse Tuesday at Meachem Rink and hosting CNY Fusion Thursday before heading into the Section III Division I playoffs.