WORCESTER — That Bryan Baumann delivered for the second straight game on the biggest stage came as little surprise to the Greenfield hockey team. The senior captain and leading scorer (22 goals, 23 assists) is exactly who the Green Wave turn to in times of strife.
While Greenfield is a team loaded with power, it’s also a team that receives contributions from its entire lineup. Baumann sealed the 3-2 win against Lunenburg in the Division 3A state final, but the depth of the Green Wave lineup got it to that point on Saturday at Holy Cross.
Playing in the program’s first state tournament game, there were bound to be nerves in the first period. Don’t tell that to Derek Lenois. The junior broke the ice for the game’s first tally, staking Greenfield to a 1-0 lead with 3:37 remaining in the first period.
“I was actually more nervous the other night,” said Lenois, referring to Thursday’s win over Wahconah in the Western Mass. title game. “I felt ready to go (against Lunenburg).”
Lenois is a do-it-all type on the ice. He has contributed on the scoring sheet when needed, but Saturday’s go-ahead tally in the state final was just his fourth goal of the season. He was 10th on the team in points this winter, and the moment was nowhere close to being too big for him.
“It was kind of a spin-o-rama type of goal,” Lenois said. “I’m not sure how it went in, but I’ll take it.”
Scoring a goal in a state final? Certainly not a bad feeling.
“Yeah, it felt good,” he said with a grin.
Greenfield found itself in a familiar predicament in the second period. Trailing 2-1, the Green Wave received a much-needed boost from one of their rookie members. That would be freshman Shane Prusak, who pounced on a loose puck sitting behind Lunenburg goaltender Nick Granger. Prusak, who was seventh on the Greenfield roster in scoring this winter, finished the job. He registered his fifth goal of the season to pull the Wave back even.
“The little man’s a big game player,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “He’s a proven winner. We had confidence in him from Day 1 out of camp. He got big boy minutes all year long. Watching him progress through, particularly when we got into tournament when the most pressure is on, for him to deliver like that … we’re really excited to see what he brings for the next three years of high school hockey.”
Prusak wasn’t treated as a freshman this season. He cracked the rotation up front, and scored his first varsity goal in the third game of the season against Ludlow. His first multi-point outing came two games later against Easthampton.
“I could tell they had a lot of confidence in me and that pushed me to be the best that I could be,” Prusak said.
The equalizer wasn’t the prettiest goal he’s ever scored, but it certainly was the biggest.
“The whole season we’ve been talking about getting in front of the net and getting the dirty goals,” Prusak said. “I just did my job, got a lucky bounce. It was very exciting.”
Baumann said the play of underclassmen like Prusak has him hopeful for the future of the Green Wave, despite the roster set to graduate double-digit seniors.
“That kid has worked his butt off all season,” Baumann said of Prusak. “He’s given 110 percent for us every single day and I love to see it because it shows the program is going to grow the next couple years with him here.”
As tensions rose in the third period of a tied game, neither Lenois or Prusak said they were worried. Margin of error goes down, certainly, but the team’s depth and stamina proved to be just what Greenfield needed.
“We were confident,” Lenois said. “We were in the same spot (Thursday against Wahconah) so we knew we could come back and win the game in the end.”
Prusak agreed.
“I think we trust each other and it comes from all the hard work we’ve done in practice,” the freshman said. “We were very confident because we know we probably skate more than most teams in practice. We’re well conditioned.”
So when Baumann’s wrister with 1:31 remaining found the back of the Lunenburg net, Greenfield banded together and finished the job. With contributions from the whole lineup throughout this record-breaking season, it was no surprise to see it again on Saturday.