C-NS hockey advances to sectional semifinals

BY PHIL BLACkwELL

Section III Division I playoff hockey would see Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool make their way to Thursday-night quarterfinal games – one at home, one in a locale that was also familiar.

The no. 4 seed Northstars were at home, welcoming no. 5 seed Rome Free Academy to the Twin Rinks more than two months after it beat the Black Knights 4-2 in the regular season.

Back then, C-NS battled consis- tency. Now, it was a far more confident unit, having won four in a row going into the playoffs - and then ending RFA’s season with a convincing 7-2 victory.

Wasting little time, the Northstars established a 4-1 advantage by the end of the first period, matching its entire output from the first RFA game. And that margin continued to grow, led by Braden Porter, who put up three goals for a hat trick and added an assist, and Emmit Porter, who had two goals and two assists.

Hayden Scott and Kyle DeBejian also put up goals, with Tyler Milewski and Tanner Long earning goals. In goal, Ethan McKenzie recorded 17 saves. Liverpool, with its 4-15-1 regularseason mark, knew that any playoff hopes hinged on finding some offense to complement the work in goal by James Welch. And that’s exactly what happened in last Tuesday’s opening-round game against Fayetteville-Manlius

HaL Henty

PUCK BATTLE: Liverpool forward Cole Broughton (4) fights for possession with Baldwinsville’s (2) during last thursday’s section III Division I quarterfinal. The Warriors lost to the Bees 5-1.