Rome Free Academy didn't make it easy on itself. The Black Knights broke open a tie game on Wednesday with three third-period goals to beat Cicero-North Syracuse 5-2 at home to move on to the Section III Division I boys hockey title game.

The Knights, seeded second, were up 2-0 early in the second against the third seed at a packed Kennedy Arena in Rome. But the Northstars immediately answered the second goal and then tied it later in the second.

Then RFA committed a host of penalties in the third that gave C-NS four power plays, including a five-minute major. But the Knights killed off all four (and five total in the game) to maintain the lead. Meanwhile, Donte Sparace made 22 saves to earn the win in goal.

"I loved our physicality right from the start, our speed right from the start," said RFA head coach Jason Nowicki.

After a scoreless first period, the RFA offense struck twice early in the second. As it has this season, the first line did a lot of scoring. The line of co-captain Tyler Lokker, Jacob Bruno and Jackson Marchione scored 63 of the team's 96 goals in the regular season. And the three scored all five on Wednesday.

Marchione scored first on the opening shift of the second, grabbing his own rebound and snapping off another shot to beat Trevor Smith. Lokker earned an assist in what would end up a five-point game for the senior. Forty seconds later, Lokker netted the first of his two goals, skating across the slot and sending a backhanded shot into net on assists from Miles Mendiola and Marchione.

But C-NS responded with a goal from Nate Bustin 20 seconds later to cut it back to a one-goal lead immediately.

RFA had the momentum at 2-0, Nowicki said. And the coaches told the players that after the Knights went up two, "This is the most important shift in the game." So the C-NS goal took the momentum back, he said, and then the Northstars tied it up.

Andrew Gabor tied it with 9:35 left in the middle frame. RFA gave the puck away in its defensive zone and the it was passed around to Gabor on the far post for the finish.  

Marchione's second goal would end up the game winner, when the puck came to him in the right slot and he put it away with a wrist shot with 12:14 left in regulation. Assists went to Bruno and Lokker. The league player of the year, Lokker, pushed the lead to two with an unassisted effort with 10 minutes left. A shot from the point was blocked but he gathered the rebound and hit the back of the net with a snap shot from the right faceoff circle.

"It was a weird third period," said Nowicki. "The game was very chippy," he added, noting that the Northstars were taking shots at RFA players after whistles. "We held our temper pretty good for all the shots we were taking tonight. I'm proud of the group for that." Most of the RFA penalties were, he noted, "just from hard play."

"We really brought the physicality tonight," Bruno said. "I think that changed the momentum of the game at points. Finishing checks, it really brought the energy up."

RFA penalties threatened to put the lead in jeopardy in the third. The first was the shift after Lokker put the Knights up by two. The next was three minutes later. Then with just under four minutes left, RFA's Steven Mudry committed a major penalty for head contact. A C-NS penalty less than a minute later wiped out two minutes of that power play. But the RFA penalty kill stood tall, killing off all the time on the man advantage.

"The penalty kill was fantastic. It's been fantastic all season," Nowicki said. And when the team faced the five-minute penalty kill, the special teams unit stepped up again. "It's the passion on the penalty kill that draws the penalty and changes the whole game. We were on the ropes there."

"We practice stuff like this all the time. So we're always prepared," Bruno said of the penalty killing units. "We have confidence in ourselves to kill off the penalties, and we did. I'm proud of my guys to step up in a moment like that."

Then with 1:58 left, Bruno scored into an empty net while the teams were skating four a side. Lokker got an assist for his part.