WEST SPRINGFIELD — Vaughn Gillen tipped his cap to Taconic.
The Belchertown freshman forward scored three goals in his first postseason game, leading the fourth-seeded Orioles to a 4-3 win over No. 5 Taconic on Tuesday at Olympia Ice Center in the opening round of the Western Massachusetts Division 3A Tournament.
Belchertown advanced to the semifinals and will play No. 1 Chicopee (18-1-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Olympia.
“He’s been carrying our offense through a lot of the year,” Belchertown coach Matt Crutch said.
Belchertown needed all three goals to hold off Taconic.
The Braves never took the lead, but answered each of Belchertown’s early tallies.
Freshman Francis Nigro put the Orioles on the board initially with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first period. He picked off a lazy pass from Taconic’s defenseman and fired home.
“Our freshmen came through,” Crutch said.
Brandon Peaslee tied the game 3:35 into the second period for Taconic before Gillen regained Belchertown’s lead 1:15 later.
The Braves battled back to 2-2 with a goal from Ryan Lapierre 9:56 into the second period.
Gillen wasn’t done.
He blasted home a rebound with 9.7 seconds left in the period to put Belchertown up 3-2.
“We were worried with them coming out with nothing to lose,” Crutch said. “They came out and punched us straight in the mouth. We finally answered it.”
Gillen provided that answer with 11:14 left. He fought off multiple Taconic defenders and finished in a crowd for the hat trick.
“I was really fighting for it,” Gillen said. “Got lucky, got a good bounce, back-handed went right between the goalie’s legs.”
It looked like an insurance goal until Taconic threw one last shot.
Kevin Quinto scored on a breakaway to make it 4-3, but the game ran out of goals.
Now the Pacers await.
They beat Belchertown 9-2 to start the year, but the teams tied 4-4 in their second meeting.
“We had two very different games with them. When we actually played them five on five we were right there with them,” Crutch said. “When we play five on five we’re as good as anybody in this league. Just gotta stay out of the penalty box.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.