Cicero, NY – The West Genesee boys hockey team came out slow on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from getting a win over Cicero-North Syracuse.
West Genesee defeated the Northstars 4-0 at Twin Rinks in the MACC.
“I thought it was a really good high school hockey game,” West Genesee coach Frank Colabufo said. “I think C-NS — big respect to those guys — played hard from the puck down. They’re well-coached, they’re physical, and I thought our kids responded.”
The Northstars came out aggressive early, having 13 shots on goal compared to the Wildcats’ six in the first period.
Despite being at a disadvantage in that category, West Genesee was the team that scored first.
Matej Schneid scored on a breakaway with 2:40 left in the first period to take a 1-0 lead.
“I tried to play hard, play physical and shoot the puck,” Schneid said.
In the second period, Schneid netted one more West Genesee goal.
That one came 13 seconds into the power play when he fired a shot just past the blue line to make it 2-0 with 5:54 remaining.
“We moved the puck well and Nick Meluni he had a good screen in front,” Schneid said. “I just shot it. The goalie didn’t even see it. It was a good team play.”
The Wildcats have had a lot of success on the power play all season and it’s thanks to a combination of players who fill their roles to perfection.
“I just think Matthew Schneid, on top of that power play, has a tremendous hockey IQ. He’s got poise, he’s got vision,” Colabufo said. “And it complements on both sides, though.” JJ (McCarthy). JJ has a lot of assists on one flank and JJ can find Parker (Berg) there on the back.
“But I think you should appreciate a lot. Ryan Long and Nick Meluni who do a lot of work down low around the net. Not just taking the goalie’s eyes off, but getting pucks and letting us reset to get a lot of time in the zone. And when you have pucks on your sticks and players like that up top, then hopefully good things will happen.”
In the second period, the Wildcats outshot the Northstars 21-3, which is a significant improvement over the first period. Colabufo believes his team is still finding its identity and the mid-game turnaround confirmed that.
“We have to play the way we have to play in a way that gives us the best chance to win,” he said. “…We had to keep things simple. We had to put the pucks in places where we could get them back. We had to make simple hockey plays, stay above the pucks and try to get back to playing West Genesee hockey.”
In the third period, the Wildcats added two more goals to put the game away. Riley McAloon and Parker Berg scored the final goals for West Genesee.
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High School Hockey: Cicero-North Syracuse vs. West Genesee
The attack did its part, but so did the defense and the goalkeeper Donovan Wissel.
This was a common theme for Wissel and Carter Mathewsonwho have a split in goal all season.
“Super proud of Donovan Wissel and Carter Mathewson in net,” Colabufo said. “They’ve been splitting games all season and both of them could be our starters and that’s kind of the way it was.
Wissel finished the game with 21 saves and helped lead West Genesee’s defense to its third shutout of the season.
“Really proud of the group defensively,” Colabufo said. “Just staying in the system, in the structure, and allowing the structure to help us be better than maybe we are individually.”
After starting the season 3-3-1, the Wildcats found their groove and won five straight games to improve to 8-3-1.
“We had a little bit of a bad start, but I think we’re playing better and trying to play the right way,” Schneid said. “And I think we’re going to keep building on the wins.
West Genesee is back in action Thursday when they host CNY Fusion.
The Northstars fall to 5-7 and will try to bounce back on Monday at home against Mohawk Valley.
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