WEST SPRINGFIELD — As Greenfield’s Jacob Bryant carried the puck down the left side of South Hadley’s defensive zone, Aidan Roache slowly glided toward the Tigers’ net from the opposite side.
It was late in the third period, the Green Wave were on a power play for the rest of regulation and the game was tied.
As a South Hadley defender stepped up to defend Bryant, he slid the puck over to Roache who was sitting near the far side post.
Bryant scored off a one timer to give the Green Wave the lead with 1:11 to go in the game.
South Hadley pulled it’s goalie, Anthony Cigal, to get an extra skater on the ice in a last-ditch effort to equalize, but No. 1 Greenfield scored an empty-net goal and went on to defeat the No. 5 Tigers, 4-2, in the Western Massachusetts Division IIIA semifinals in West Springfield on Saturday.
Greenfield advances to the Western Mass. Div. IIIA championship and will play No. 3 Wahconah on Mar. 5 at Olympia Ice Center.
The Green Wave jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but South Hadley responded with back to back goals, one in the first period and another in the second period.
“We have been trying to talk to these student-athletes all year-long about adversity," Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “All the credit to these young men that skated hard out there. They skated for 45 full minutes. They were able to dig deep."
Sam Knight opened the scoring for the Green Wave less than two minutes into the game. Knight used his stick skills to get around a South Hadley defender and scored from the right side of the goal inside the far post.
Three minutes later, Bryant forced a turnover at South Hadley’s blue line and scored from the low slot to double up on the Tigers.
Greenfield continued to create scoring opportunities with an aggressive forecheck in the first period, but Anthony Cigal made multiple big saves to keep the Tigers in the game.
“Anthony has been so strong all year," South Hadley coach Larry Camus said. "I made him a captain halfway though the season and he has excelled.”
Joe Cigal got the Tigers on the board with 7:09 left in the opening period with a wrist shot from the low slot.
Less than a minute into the second period, the Tigers’ Mike Mazza scored to tie the game.
“I know for a fact a lot of our student-athletes said ‘Oh, we just got up 2-0 real quick, we can let off the gas pedal a little bit'," Bouchard said. “That’s when South Hadley started to pick it up. They really took it to us.”
South Hadley had a two-minute power play opportunity midway through the period, but Greenfield’s PK unit kept the Tigers off the board.
Mazza had a breakaway with less than a minute to go in the period, but Greenfield goalie Riley Drew made the stop.
“In the second period I thought we took control," South Hadley coach Larry Camus said.
Tension was high moving into the final period. Both teams had power play opportunities in the frame and both sides had goals waved off. South Hadley had a goal from Mazza waved off because the net was dislodged. A goal off a redirect from Greenfield was disallowed because of a high stick.
The Tigers’ Matt Brunelle was assessed a penalty for tripping with 1:42 to go in the game to give the Green Wave a power play for the remainder of regulation.
Thirty seconds later, Roache slammed in the game-winner.
“The really important part of that is that Rocahe was in the right seam,” Bouchard said. "Bryant was able to pick his head up and find him there. ... That is a big power play goal, obviously for him, but more importantly for our program.”
The Green Wave’s Portor Clancey scored an empty-net goal with under five seconds left to seal the Greenfield victory.
Mazza was South Hadley’s only senior this season. He came into Saturday’s game with just over 100 career points for the Tigers.
“He’s been a great leader,” Camus said.
Moving forward into Thursday’s sectional championship game against Wahconah, Greenfield will look to carry over some momentum from Saturday night’s win.
“When you have a late winner like that you have to take it right to the beginning of the next game,” Roache said.
"Goal" - Google News
February 29, 2020 at 04:27PM
https://ift.tt/32BJ7S6
Aidan Roache’s late goal pushes No. 1 Greenfield boys hockey past No. 5 South Hadley in Western Mass. Divisio - MassLive.com
"Goal" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35TEe8t
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Aidan Roache’s late goal pushes No. 1 Greenfield boys hockey past No. 5 South Hadley in Western Mass. Divisio - MassLive.com"
Post a Comment