LYSANDER – In an unaccustomed spot, the Baldwinsville ice hockey team sought to make up for its many regular-season struggles by surging through the Section III Division I playoffs.
Doing so would require the no. 8 seed Bees to defeat no. 9 seed Ontario Bay in Thursday night’s opening round at Three Rivers Athletic Complex – if the snow stayed away.
Having topped the Storm 6-3 back in December on this same Lysander home ice, B’ville found the playoff rematch a far tougher battle, having to stay patient, surge in the middle of the game and hold on late to prevail by a 3-2 margin.
Through a scoreless opening period the Bees probed and attacked but could not convert. Then it broke through in the second and established a 3-0 advantage.
Alessio McGrane, continuing a late-season scoring surge, put in one of the goals, with the others going to fellow sophomore Rylan MacCollum and freshman A.J. McPheeters. The goals by McGrane and MacCollum were just six seconds apart.
B’ville would need the cushion. Ontario Bay charged late in the third period, Jaxon Smith and Connor Demott both finding the net to shrink the Bees’ margin to one.
But the Bees would prevail in large part because, aside from this late push, the Storm rarely pressured B’ville goalie Zach Bice, the defense limiting Ontario Bay to 11 shots overall.
Safely past the opening round, the Bees have to wait for its quarterfinal assignment. With the game between no. 6 seed Watertown IHC and no. 11 seed Mohawk Valley pushed back twice by weather, the bracket was adjusted and the Bees go to Shove Park to try and topple top seed West Genesee Wednesday at noon.
