Joseph Freniere tied the game with a goal in the second period, but host Chicopee Comp scored a pair of third-period tallies to secure a 3-1 victory in high school hockey action Saturday at Fitzpatrick Arena in Holyoke.
Chicopee Comp led 1-0 after one period before Freniere tied the game in the second.
Comp’s David Girouard scored twice in the win, while Carson Langlois also found the back of the net.
Charles May recorded 30 saves in net for the Hurricanes (0-2-1), which head back to the ice Wednesday against Southwick.
Greenfield 4, Chicopee 2 – Despite not taking the ice for a game in nearly 11 months, the Greenfield hockey team picked up right where it left off on Saturday in its season opener.
The Green Wave jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period and tallied two more goals early in the third to come away with a 4-2 victory over Chicopee at Collins-Moylan Arena.
“It was awesome to see the boys out there and to be able to be together and play in a hockey game was awesome,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “It was a positive event. Yes, we won the game and to come out with the win was great, but just being able to play was a huge accomplishment.”
Kyle Barnes put the first tally on the board for the Green Wave with 4:56 to play in the second period. Barnes got out on an end-to-end rush, taking it the whole way himself and beating Pacer goalie David Shea five-hole.
Once Greenfield broke through, the goals came quickly.
“It was good to see that once we found the back of the net the first time, being rusty in our first game of the year, after getting the first one we got going,” Bouchard said. “It was important for our program and the student athletes — in a home game after state championship game — it was important to get that first win.”
The Wave added another just before the second period came to a close, doing so a man-down. Barnes sent a pass to Shane Prusak, who skated in and beat the goalie on an odd-man opportunity to make it 2-0 with 34 ticks left in the second.
One minute into the third period, freshman Devin Niles recorded his first varsity goal, off assists from Sammy Knight and Prusak. Six minutes after, Knight found the back of the net, with assists going to Prusak and Niles to make it 4-0.
Trevor Seidell-Poirier had both of Chicopee’s goals later in the third.
It was a huge coming out party for Greenfield goalie Josh Bordeaux. The sophomore, who takes over for Riley Drew in the net this season, came up big in his first start of the season. Bordeaux stopped 26 of 28 shots faced, three of which were breakaways.
With it being the first game of the season, it was also the first time for the Green Wave to see all the modifications in place via a game setting. For Bouchard, the game itself didn’t feel all too different.
“One of the big advantages we have is we pack that barn year to year so not having fan base and student section was a big change,” Bouchard said. “From a hockey standpoint, the flow of the game is a little different, how we manage the bench changed. Take those little things away and it felt like a normal game.”
Greenfield is back in action Saturday, taking on Southwick at Collins-Moylan. With no fans allowed at the game, it will be streamed live on YouTube by FCAT Media.
The second Nordic ski race of the season between Mohawk Trail and Amherst took place on Saturday in Buckland, but instead of the usual 5K course, the coaches decided to switch things up and hold a pursuit style race as they are able to get creative with just the two teams competing.
A pursuit race consists of two races in one, starting with a 2.2K classical race, followed by a 2.2K freestyle race. The start times for the second race are based off the times of the first race, meaning the winner of the first race starts first, with each other competitors start time based on how long after they completed the first race after the first place finisher.
It was the Mohawk Trail girls that came away with a convincing 10-30 victory, having the top five finishers in the race.
Katarzyna Wisnauckas led the way, coming away with the top time of 24:47. Sylvie Mahon-Moore took second with a time of 26:50, followed by Eleanor Meunier in third (28:27), Kala Garrido in fourth (29:49) and Brooke Looman in fifth (32:44).
For Amherst, Zoey Candito finished sixth (34:30), Maddie Parker placed seventh (35:16), Ava Zimmermann took eighth (35:29) and Grace Wilkinson placed ninth (36:35).
On the boys side, Warrior Dennis Simmons was the top overall finisher with a time of 25:43, but it was the Hurricanes that took a narrow 17-20 victory.
West Williams was the only other competitor for Mohawk Trail finishing third with a run of 26:03.
Ryan Yanko was the top finisher for Amherst, taking second with a time of 25:47. Owen Candito placed fourth (27:19) and Taylor Hanson finished in fifth place (28:11).
There was a separate 2.2K skate race, with Hurricane Ben Feeney winning on the boys side with a run of 13:23. Teammate Amrita Rutter’s time of 17:26 placed her first on the girls side.
The next race is scheduled for next Saturday, with the location to be determined.