Sweet Home hockey wins both games on first road trip
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home hockey hit the road for the first time in school history this past week, winning twice over Section III's Liverpool at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

Sweet Home won 5-3 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday. Sweet Home was supposed to face Section III's Baldwinsville on Friday but did not because of wintry weather.

Five different Panthers scored in each game. On Friday, Rich Beaudet (Corey Sykes, Alex Esposito), Anthony Manzella and Paul Campise (James Cardinale on power play) lifted Sweet Home to a 3-1 lead after two periods. Two quick goals from Liverpool's Matt Wilson and JoeyWilson (Matt Wilson) tied it at 3-3 in the third but Esposito (Dominic Puntillo, Ryan Gutt) and Cardinale (Esposito) answered for the Panthers.

On Saturday, Sweet Home broke open a tightly played penalty filled game with four third period goals from Manzella (Beaudet, Chris Covul), Gutt, Mike Campise, and Covel.

"We stayed out of the penalty box and so did they," said Sweet Home coach Dave Gerspach. "We rolled three lines. Some guys had the most ice time in that game."

Dan Martino opened the scoring 30 seconds into the game from Paul Campise. Gutt gave Sweet Home a 2-1 lead from Manzella in the second.

Brad Capone and Tim Ross scored for Liverpool.

Rob Castiglia made 31 saves on Friday. Derek Mohney stopped 19 shots on Saturday.

Gerspach was happy with how his team handled the trip.

"When we scheduled this last year, it was with the purpose of playing in Utica on March 10 (Division II state final four)," said Gerpach. "So the kids had to have the experience of riding on bus and playing on a rink they've never played on... The team bonding was the best part of it."

Sweet Home will play a Section IX team in the Division II regionals on Saturday, March 3.

Sweet Home concluded an unbelievable Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation regular season with a 6-3 win over Kenmore West.

James Cardinale scored twice, once on the power play from Paul Campise and Esposito. Manzella (Esposito, Covel), Esposito (Manzella, Dominic Puntillo), Paul Campise (Gutt), and Matt Stewart (Esposito, Paul Campise) on the power play also tallied for Sweet Home.

Nick Panepinto (Scott Moser, Michael Vasquez) on the power play, Patrick Fisher (Vasuqez, Moser) and Anthony Farah (Panepinto, Kyle Whipple) scored for Kenmore West.

The Panthers finished with a league-best 27 points (12-1-3). They are 17-2-4 and ranked No. 2 in New York State Division II.

The Panthers have a first round bye in the Federation playoffs and plays the winner of Kenmore West and St. Francis at 7 p.m. Friday on the Amherst Pepsi Center's Feature Rink.

"I like our chances," said Gerspach. "Four years ago, I was hoping for one win in the Federation. We just went through 16 games and lost once."

The Panthers will also have a boost for their playoff run with the return of Ryan Marko. The junior forward, who has been out since Jan. 27, was medically cleared on Monday.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com