WEST SPRINGFIELD — Andrew Fijal collected Cody Lambert’s bouncing centering pass behind him and took a calming touch to settle the puck, a moment of poise from a freshman.
There were 2 minutes, 48 seconds remaining in Belchertown’s tied Western Massachusetts Division 3A hockey quarterfinal against Chicopee on Tuesday.
Leading a breakout, Lambert threaded the pass through two Chicopee defenders, leaving Fijal one-on-one with Chicopee goalie Kelsey Czerniawski. She charged out of the crease to intercept him. Fijal kept his cool and lifted the puck over Czerniawski’s left shoulder for the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory.
“We slowed him into the whole process. He came in as a third liner and due to some circumstances fit right in as our second-line center,” Belchertown coach Matt Crutch said. “He’s really taken that role and gone for it. He competes for every puck, he’s a pleasure to have.”
Belchertown, the third seed, will face No. 2 Greenfield at 1 p.m. Saturday back at Olympia Ice Center. The Green Wave (17-2-2) beat Drury in an earlier quarterfinal. The league opponents played twice during the regular season. Greenfield won their last meeting 4-2 on Feb. 15, and the teams tied in December.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Crutch said. “We’re familiar with them, we’ll be ready.”
The playoff intensity showed from the opening moments in a physical game. There were eight penalties between both teams.
“We’re one of the more physical teams in the league. When we’re playing our game we’re gonna throw the body around,” Crutch said. “It’s a hard thing to ask kids to do, so hopefully it just comes natural.”
Matthew Pacheco put the Orioles (13-3-3) ahead initially with 11:18 left in the second period. Vaughn Gillen won the puck along the boards and found Francis Nigro behind the net. He passed it to a wide-open Pacheco for the 1-0 lead.
“He buried it,” Nigro said. “That motivated us a lot.”
Belchertown goalie Ethan Rajpold kept Belchertown ahead with a breakaway save on Chicopee’s Spencer Clark at the second period buzzer.
“He played amazing,” Fijal said. “He kept us in that game.”
The Orioles’ lead lasted 2:03 into the third period. Trent Lahair tied the game at 1 from Alex Assab and Andre Gallant.
Belchertown kept its offensive zone pressure high throughout the game. Even once Chicopee (9-9-3) gained possession and tried to break out, the Orioles’ forwards worked to deflect passes and keep the puck onside.
“They are so talented offensively that they leave the zone early,” Crutch said. “We wanted to make sure we kept the puck deep and grinded it out down low.”
Nigro picked off a clearing pass, sized up Czerniawski and fired into the right corner before he hit the crease for a 2-1 lead.
“I saw a lot of open space, so I skated as fast as I could,” Nigro said.
He thought it would be the winner for 1:03, until Austin Scott tied the game for the Pacers.
“It was crushing, but we knew it was still a tie game, could go any way,” Nigro said. “We still battled.”
Belchertown gave up two leads before holding at the end to reach the sectional final for the fourth year in a row. The Orioles lost in the title game last year.
Time moved slowly for Crutch on the bench watching his team hold Chicopee’s powerful offense in check.
“It seemed like the clock never moved. I felt pretty confident, but I knew Chicopee was very explosive,” he said. “I don’t think we had our best game today, but it’s the whole March Madness thing, survive and advance, and we did.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.