SPRINGFIELD — Senior goalie Nate Barnes did all he could to keep his team in the game.
Despite playing arguably the best game of his career, Barnes’ 30-save effort wasn’t enough to single-handedly carry Easthampton to what would have been the first state hockey championship in program history.
Jared Simmons broke open a close game by scoring two of his three goals during the second period to power Lunenburg to a 5-2 victory over Easthampton, Wednesday at the MassMutual Center in the state Division 3A championship game.
“Nate’s had a ton of great games and this was one of his best,” Easthampton coach Bill Grise said. “He’s had a great season.”
Lunenburg has thrived in its role of playing spoiler during the postseason. Before dashing Easthampton’s title hopes, it ousted previously unbeaten Grafton in the Central Massachusetts title game.
Easthampton ended the season 12-4-7 and won its first Western Mass. championship after not making the tournament for several seasons.
“Western Mass. was a huge victory for our program and we tried to put the icing on the cake,” Grise said. “This was a new experience for us and one we can learn from.”
The Eagles improved tremendously during Grise’s second season. None of their current players had ever played in a tournament game prior to this season.
Perhaps there were some jitters playing in their first state title game, but Lunenburg’s speed and experience proved to be too big an obstacle for the Eagles to overcome.
No Division 3A team in western Mass. had the speed that Lunenburg possessed. That ability to skate enabled the Blue Knights to go on many odd-man rushes.
Most of the time, Barnes was able to withstand those rushes by making highlight saves. He stopped five breakaways that kept the Blue Knights from breaking open what was a 2-1 game.
Simmons snapped a tie and provided Lunenburg with the 2-1 lead 1:51 into the second period when he received a pass from Jacob Mauro and snapped a close-range shot past Barnes.
Simmons completed his hat trick with 3:51 remaining in the second period. He swooped in alone and scored.
Sean Simpson scored 52 seconds into the final period to provide the Blue Knights with a 4-1 lead. The Eagles closed the gap to 4-2 with 6:08 remaining on Jake Delisle’s second goal of the game. Delisle is a converted defenseman.
“We grew a lot this season,” Delisle said.
The Eagles applied heavy pressure on the Blue Knights, but Kyle Fitzpatrick scored a late goal to put Lunenburg ahead, 5-2.
Delisle provided the Eagles with a 1-0 lead. He received a pass from Matt Zuzula and scored from the slot at 6:22 of the first.
Barnes made several big saves during late first-period flurries, but Lunenburg kept buzzing the net and it paid off.
Simmons struck at 11:02 to knot the score at one apiece. He converted a feed from Mauro and slipped the puck past the right side of Barnes, who never had a chance.
Barnes had a busy first period. He stopped 10 of 11 shots.