It's been a long time coming for the Central scholastic men's ice hockey team, but they finally captured the gold.

Central completed its undefeated run in the Empire States games with a 3-2 win over Western in the gold medal game on Sunday, ending Western's domination of the event.

“The Western team has won like the last nine or 10 years in a row,” said Central defender and Auburn native Zach Marginsky. “It was nice to finally end that streak and take the gold. The Central teams haven't been able to win gold medals very much so that made it extra nice.”

Marginsky learned plenty from his first experience on the team, playing familiar faces including Tommy Trowell, a teammate on the Auburn High School team, as well as Skaneateles' Keith Buehler s.

“I knew most of the guys on my team,” Marginsky said. “We got along very well and I got to meet a lot of new people too.”

Along with the desire for a new experience, Marginsky was looking forward to the possibility of obtaining success with a Central squad that was enduring a lengthy title drought.

“I'm not sure how long it has been since the hockey team won the gold,” Marginsky said. “I know it has been a long time though. I had heard good things about our possibilities this year and that is one of the reasons I wanted to be a part of the team. I thought we had a good chance to win it.”

That particular optimism grew as the team got their first taste of success.

“When we hit 2-0 we knew we had a good chance,” Marginsky said. “We wanted to knock out Western and we wanted the gold. We knew we could go all the way and we did it.”

“We just wanted it,” Trowell added. “We worked really hard for the month and a half of practice and it paid off. The coach taught us a lot and we stayed focused.”

Trowell earned 18 saves in Central's 4-1 victory over New York City in the semifinals July 26.

“We really came together as a team,” Trowell said. “We worked together well in practice and played really well together. That is what gave us the success and helped us go undefeated, 5-0.”

It all came down to a close call though. With 12 seconds left and the game tied 2-2 against Western in the finals, Buehler assisted with Joey Wilson to help Mike Montagna score the winning goal. Buehler finished with four goals and three assists in five games.

“In previous years the team did not have all the players that it could have,” Marginsky said. “A lot of players stepped up this year and focused, it made the difference. We weren't going to settle for less and we didn't. This was a good experience as well, a good opportunity to get evaluated as a player.”

Not just a time for playing ice hockey, the Empire State Games newcomers found many other things to enhance their experience and create even more reasons to be a part of the action.

“I really enjoyed living in the dorms and learning other sports,” Trowell said. “It was a really fun experience. I had wanted to play in the games for a while now and I am really lucky that I finally got the chance. I worked on a team with some guys that I have played with or against my entire life and some I met for the first time. I made a lot of new friends and we all plan to keep in touch.”

“I learned that if you have your mind on a goal you can achieve it as long as you stay focused,” Marginsky added. “Keeping composure and doing the simple things that make a bigger difference is something we concentrated on. I got to meet a lot of new people too, some from other sports as well and I was really comfortable with my teammates. It was a fun experience overall.”