Falcons beat Syracuse in state hockey semis

Niagara-Wheatfield hockey has five captains. One of them, Nick Peters, was the hero Saturday night in the Falcons’ 3-1 regional championship win over Syracuse, but even Peters knows that it takes the whole team.

“I told myself before the game, I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got,” Peters said. “You don’t know how much hockey you have left, but I’ve gotta give credit to my teammates because I can’t do it without them either.”

Peters scored two goals, both of which gave the Falcons the lead. His first came late in the first for a 1-0 Niagara Wheatfield lead, and when Syracuse tied the game early in the second, Peters scored less than three and a half minutes later for a 2-1 lead with exactly eight minutes left in the period.

Senior Mike Lotempio scored an insurance goal 24 seconds later, and the 3-1 lead stood thanks to Peyton Siegmann’s 22 saves and Niagara Wheatfield’s solid defense.

Niagara Wheatfield coach Rick Wrazin did what he could to plan for a team his Falcons hadn’t faced before. After winning a Section VI championship Monday night, Wrazin rushed home and watched Syracuse win their own section championship against Baldwinsville.

“We picked up some of the things they were doing,” Wrazin said. “They love to overload on the puck and try to out-man you, so we saw that and we made some adjustments. They’re a heck of a hockey team. It was 3-1. Obviously it could have gone either way. We knew what we were getting into in terms of the caliber of team, but obviously we didn’t know everything they were gonna do.”

And when Syracuse surprised the Falcons with a few tricks Saturday, Wrazin and his coaches and players adjusted well.

“To start the second period, they got us a little bit on the opening draw, but as we saw it, we adjusted,” Wrazin said. “And the boys did a nice job when we made adjustments on the bench with taking it out onto the ice and putting it into practice.”

His seniors lived up to Wrazin’s expectations, and he appreciates the group he has. Some of them, including Peters, have been on the team since they were freshmen.

“Between being as close as they are as a group and great senior leadership, we couldn’t decide on captains,” Wrazin explained. “We have five captains. We have captains in our white jerseys and captains in our blacks because we have great senior leadership, and it takes that to get to this point, and they really are a close group and a special group.”

“Honestly, I love all these guys in this locker room,” Peters said. “We’re a family, and when we’re out there we’re playing for another game the next weekend. I know anybody in that locker room will do anything for us to get another win.”

Next weekend, Peters and the rest of the Falcons are scheduled to face North Rockland in the New York State Division 1 Semifinals at 9:30 am at HarborCenter.

And they’ll do anything for another win.

“We’re all excited,” said Peters, “but at the end of the day we wanna win the whole thing, so I’m glad we got through this one.”