ONONDAGA COUNTY – Early on the first Monday evening in March at Upstate Medical Arena the Christian Brothers Academy/Jamesville-DeWitt ice hockey team sets out on a quest that nearly everyone outside of its circle may have deemed impossible, if not improbable.
All the Brothers had to do was try and knock off the reigning two-time state champions from Skaneateles in the Section III Division II final, having lost both regular-season meetings to the Lakers by a combined 14-1 margin.
At the very least, CBA/J-D had already proven it could win an elimination game against someone it didn’t beat in two regular-season tries, turning back Whitesboro 4-2 in Thursday night’s sectional semifinal at Onondaga Nation Arena.
The Brothers had gone 0-1-1 against Whitesboro this season, tying 4-4 in December at Nedrow and then going to Whitestown Community Center and losing 4-1 in January.
Since then, though, CBA/J-D had taken off, and brought a five-game win streak to the playoff showdown, possessing a confidence not shown against Whitesboro before – and it paid off.
They traded first-period goals, but the Brothers went out in front in the second, converting once while its defense, anchored by goaltender Justin Buffum, turned back a host of Whitesboro opportunities with Buffum on his way to 35 saves.
Then a pair of third-period goals doubled the eventual margin, with CBA/J-D again displaying its depth and balance.
Four different players – Griffon Filighera, Logan Novak, Paul Brown and Jack Dement – earned the four goals. Grady Shanly and Logan Novak both got a pair of assists, while Filighera and Ryan Hayden both earned single assists.
While it has achieved plenty, nothing Fayetteville-Manlius had done before would compare to knocking off the reigning champions on its home ice with a berth in the sectional Division I championship game at stake.
Such is what faced the Hornets at Shove Park Tuesday night when it faced West Genesee in the sectional semifinals – a task that, as it turned out, proved too steep with the Wildcats prevailing 5-0.
While it owned big wins over the other two sectional semifinalists (Rome Free Academy and Cicero-North Syracuse), F-M had lost 7-1 to WG when they played Dec. 17 at Cicero Twin Rinks, giving up all seven of those goals in the first two periods.
More than two months later the Hornets believed that it had improved enough to give the Wildcats far more of a battle, but instead found itself on the other end of a comprehensive effort by the state’s top-ranked team.
From the outset the puck remained mostly parked in F-M’s end, and while it defended well for a while WG broke through midway through the first period when Michael Vetter scored off feeds from Matt Schneid and Nick Meluni.
More damaging was Jacob Pensabene’s goal late in the first period, a jammed shot that inched past goalie Nick Lamarche, hit the right post and trickled into the net.
No matter what it tried, the Hornets could not apply consistent pressure of its own, and the Wildcats were relentless, extending its margin to 3-0 seven minutes into the second period when Jonah Vormwold, on a power play, took a perfect pass from the right corner by Ryan Long and converted.
Ultimately Lamarche finished with 34 saves, but F-M only managed 12 shots all night, rarely making WG goalie Luke Beck worry. Pensabene and Vorwmold would each tack on third-period goals.
