The Games Before The Storm

Before the great mounds of white stuff blanketed the area there were several high school hockey games played. The most interesting being the home and home between Hamilton and New Hartford. The Spartans took the contest at their place, Wednesday night, 4-0. Danny Malta recorded the shut out. The rematch was Friday at Colgate’s Starr Rink. That game ended in a 1-1 tie. In a season as tight as this one is expected to be, that one point could be big by late February.
Cazenovia dropped their second league game of the season on Saturday, losing to Whitesboro at the Rec. Center 3-1. The curse of the second tier on 3-2-E, Cazenovia has lost to Whitesboro and RFA by a total of 3 goals.
Clinton renewed their long standing, non-league, rivalry with Lasalle. The Warriors dropped a 5-4 decision on their trip to the Capital District.
Last week, in complimenting the Proctor Raiders on improvements shown in their loss to Whitesboro, I borrowed from Mr. Lennon and Mr. McCartney. I now go back and paraphrase from the same song…IT DID GET MUCH WORSE. The Raiders stunk out the Aud for their own tournament. Friday night, Proctor failed to skate in the third period and conceded a 7-3 win to New Rochelle. Credit where it’s due, the Huguenots are a decent team, coming to Utica with a 3-1 record and did take the tourney title. Still, Proctor twice cut the New Rochelle lead to only a goal, but sleepwalked for the final 15 minutes. It got worse for Proctor. In the Saturday morning consolation game, goaltender Ryan Lewis scored an own goal less than 40 seconds after the opening face off. Much like the first shot goal last week by Whitesboro against Clinton, it took the air out of the club and changed the whole game. The Raiders never got going after that and gave Central Square their first win…EVER. Again, credit where it’s due…Central Square has a young lady in the nets who will help that program immensely. Sophomore Kelly Fisk tends for both Central Square and the Syracuse Stars 16U girls team. She has a good glove and steady focus and could emerge as one of the better goalies in Section III Division II. Westmoreland was the runner up in the Raiders tournament, beating Central Square quite soundly on Friday and losing to New Rochelle quite soundly on Saturday.
THIS JUST IN – Westmoreland team captain Myles Agen told this blogger that he soon would be cutting his Fro into a Flat Top. It would be the payoff on a soccer bet. Remember, gambling is both bad for you and illegal. Should Myles Agen go ahead and pay off this wager with his own hair he would turn over the 3-2-E “Best Hair” title (or crown) to Proctor’s Chancellor Coyne. New Hartford’s Jake Silberlicht earns Honorable Mention in this category and in every category of similar interest because I like Jake.
BIG WEEK AHEAD – Before breaking for the holiday, everyone in the 3-2-E will get together and play Tuesday night. The best match up of the evening will be at the Whitestown Rec. Center where the Warriors will host New Hartford. The winner of the game will sit on top of the league. Also of big interest is the battle of the other two teams from the Big Four. Clinton will host RFA in what will be an important test for both teams. Hamilton will host Proctor at the Colgate rink and Westmo goes to the Morrisville Ice Plex to play Cazenovia.