Despite falling into a 1-0 hole, the Cortland/Homer hockey team rallied for a 4-1 win over Auburn Thursday at the J.M. McDonald Sports Complex. The win marked the second straight and fourth win in the last six games for the Golden Eagles.
Cooper Swartz powered the comeback effort. He tied the game at one with a powerplay goal in the second and scored the eventual winner on a third-period powerplay marker.
“It feels pretty good and after not having the hottest start to the season,” Swartz said. “Getting that momentum going and getting these wins feels pretty good.”
Swartz’s tying goal came during a nearly four stretch where Cortland/Homer was on the powerplay. The Golden Eagles were operating in a 5-on-3 situation when Swartz cashed in to knot things up.
Cortland/Homer controlled much of the action in the second and head coach Alex Rosato believed that served as the turning point for his team.
“We wanted to really start to put some pressure down low and test their defensemen,” Rosato said. “I know it was only a one-goal period, but anyone who was there to watch it saw it was a very dominant performance. We had a good powerplay performance showing in there that ended up popping it in. But that (pressure) was our focus, and we did an excellent job of coming out and executing. We were able to carry that momentum into the third as well.”
It didn’t take long for the Golden Eagles to take their first lead once the third began. A quick penalty set up the powerplay chance and Swartz punched home a rebound from a sharp angle off the pad of goalie Jonah Young.
“I didn’t think it was coming out,” Swartz said. “I saw it pop out and just shot it. I didn’t think it went in for a second.”
The Golden Eagles forced themselves into a tight spot shortly thereafter, taking three penalties over the next five minutes after the goal. That included nearly a minute and a half of a 5-on-3 powerplay for Auburn. Goalie Jack Medeiros hung in to make a couple timely stops and keep the Golden Eagles in front.
“It was a huge, pivotal moment in the game that we had that killed,” Rosato said. “Our message to them was, ‘This doesn’t change anything, eat the clock, play slow and hold the house down.’”
“We told Jack, ‘If they’re going to shoot, we want them to shoot from the blue line. So if they get it up there, be ready,’” Rosato added. “They did get a couple really good shots that makes your heart skip a beat there, but Jack did a great job.”
Cortland/Homer went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill Thursday.
Martin Petri helped put the game away with a goal with 6:45 to play, then he fired the puck into a vacated net with 1:54 left to make it a 4-1 game.
Auburn initially took the early lead after a goal with 31.7 seconds left in the first from Peter Tarby. Rosato and his team, particularly his seniors, were frustrated with the lack of execution in the first period.
“It was a lot of anger, but well-directed anger,” Rosato said. “It was senior night and it’s their night, so a lot of the seniors were upset. Not at anyone in particular, more at themselves. It ended up being a positive thing. We emphasized that we needed to just continue to try and run our offense.”
Swartz finished with two goals and an assist on his senior night. Petri also had two goals and an assist. Bodey McGrath added two assists and Finn Thomas and Lukas Norman each added one helper. Medeiros recorded 29 saves for the Golden Eagles.
Cortland/Homer will look to run its winning streak to three at 7 p.m. today, when it hosts CNY Fusion.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
MCGRAW 43, OTSELIC VALLEY 13
McGraw led 17-2 after a quarter and cruised to the CCL win. The Eagles finished their regular season with a 9-4 record. Lexi McCall and Leah Terwilliger led McGraw’s effort, with McCall going for 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and Terwilliger contributing 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and six steals.
Emersynn Wilson added nine points, five boards, an assist and seven steals, Allie West had four points, 10 rebounds, five assists and 11 steals and Josslyn Eaton pitched in two points and seven boards. Mikayla Ross (two points, one assist), Eden Sears (seven rebounds, two steals), Bristol Eastman (three rebounds, two steals), Jordan Maynard (two rebounds), Casianna Vasquez (two rebounds) and Tatum Bonyak (one rebound) also aided the Eagles’ effort.
TULLY 61, PULASKI 26
Anna Congelli recorded her fifth 20-point outing of the season, going for 22 in Tully’s third win in a row. The Black Knights held a 34-7 advantage at halftime.
Gwyn Wilbur added 10 points, Ella Polak and Gabby Flatt chipped in seven points each, Wren Lawton and Sydney Arnott both scored four points, Abbey Durbin notched three points and Kameryn Meaney and Anna Pierce had two points apiece for Tully.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
TULLY 3, MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL 0
Tully drilled Manlius Pebble Hill 25-22, 25-14, 25-6 to close its regular season with 27 consecutive sets won. Anna Lund dished out 26 assists to go with 10 digs, seven aces and a block and Kaylynne Bennett recorded 12 kills, an ace and three digs.
Rowan Usherwood notched nine digs, five kills, an ace and a block, Elaina Iozzo added seven digs, four aces and a block and Maddy Lund had five digs and two aces. Adeline Russ (five digs, one kill, one ace, one assist), Karissa Olender (five digs, one assist), Ella Lund (four kills, four blocks, two aces), Molly Verbanic (three kills, three blocks, two digs), Teagan Lake (two aces, one dig) and Evelyn Chatfield (two digs) also aided the Black Knights’ win.
BOYS WRESTLING
HOMER 65, CANASTOTA 9
Colin Murphy (170 pounds) and Chris Slade (190 pounds) both won by pin inside of a minute in Homer’s big dual win. The Trojans are now 18-3 in dual meets this season.
Patrick Maslin (108 pounds), Owen Quaile (116 pounds), Anthony Cicioni (131 pounds), Hunter Lines (138 pounds) and Garrett Carr (145 pounds) also earned pins for the Trojans. Lucas Barbieri (101 pounds) won a 20-2 tech fall and Evan Sullivan (152 pounds), Owen Burhans (215 pounds) and Jack Brown (285 pounds) all received forfeits. Cody Hall (124 pounds) was pinned and Karson Kemp (160 pounds) lost an 8-1 decision.
TIOGA 48, MORAVIA 30
Nicholas Plue (170 pounds) earned Moravia’s only win in a contested match, pinning his opponent in 4:23. Hunter Boynton (131 pounds), Trever Wells (145 pounds), Levi McDonald (152 pounds) and Anthony Endres (160 pounds) all received forfeits for the Blue Devils.
Clayton Wells (116 pounds), Jacob Endres (124 pounds), Thomas Harriger (138 pounds) and Jake Bushey (190 pounds) were all pinned, while Tioga received forfeits at 101, 108, 215 and 285 pounds.
BOWLING
HOMER BOYS 7, CHITTENANGO 0
CHITTENANGO 7, HOMER GIRLS 0
John Bishop nearly put the perfect exclamation point on the Homer boys’ nine league title in 10 years, rolling a 299 in his final game. Bishop finished with a 673 series. Chris McMullin (225 game, 590 series), Tyler Seymour (210 game, 565 series), Caleb Hamilton (193 game, 541 series), Tanner Vogel (190 game, 507 series) and Ivan Eaton (191 game, 507 series) all followed up Bishop in the winning effort.
Kristen Combs had a solid outing for the Homer girls, rolling games of 146, 137 and 140 for a 423 series. Addy Platt (141 game, 353 series), Mikey Pittsley (99 game, 275 series), Lucy Goodwin (114 game, 255 series) and Annabelle Watkins (88 game, 228 series) all aided Combs.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Homer at Fulton, 6:45 p.m. today
Union Springs at Marathon, 7 p.m. today
Otselic Valley at McGraw, 7 p.m. today
Southern Cayuga at Groton, 6:30 p.m. today
Cincinnatus at DeRuyter, 7 p.m. today
Dryden at Elmira Notre Dame, 7:15 p.m. today
Pulaski at Cortland, 1:45 p.m. Saturday
West Canada Valley at Tully, 2:30 p.m. Saturday
DeRuyter at LaFargeville, 2:30 p.m. Saturday
LaFayette at DeRuyter, 7 p.m. Monday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mexico at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. today
Solvay at Homer, 5 p.m. today
Marathon at Union Springs, 7 p.m. today
McGraw at Port Byron, 7 p.m. today
Groton at Southern Cayuga, 7 p.m. today
Elmira Notre Dame at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
Fabius-Pompey at Tully, 7 p.m. today
Spencer-Van Etten at Moravia, 7:30 p.m. today
Chittenango at Cortland, 10:30 a.m. Saturday
Fulton at Homer, 6:45 p.m. Monday
Maine-Endwell at Groton, 6:30 p.m. Monday
Tully at Chittenango, 7:15 p.m. Monday
HOCKEY
CNY Fusion at Cortland/Homer, 7 p.m. today at J.M. McDonald Sports Complex
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Stockbridge Valley at McGraw, 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Port Byron at DeRuyter, noon Saturday
BOYS WRESTLING
Cortland at Whitney Point, 6 p.m. today
Cortland, Homer, Southern Hills at Cazenovia, 9:30 a.m. Saturday
GIRLS WRESTLING
Groton at Homer, 9 a.m. Saturday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Homer at J.M. McDonald Sports Complex, 4:30 p.m. today
Dryden, Tully at SUNY Cortland, 6 p.m. Saturday
BOWLING
Cortland at A-P-W, 3:30 p.m. today at Lighthouse Lanes
Cortland, Homer at Flamingo Lanes, 9 a.m. Saturday
CBA at Cortland, 3:30 p.m. Monday at Cort-Lanes
Chittenango at Homer, 3:30 p.m. Monday at Hi-Lanes
Groton at Newark Valley, 4 p.m. Monday at Cardinal Lanes
