WEST SPRINGFIELD — Sammy Knight saved the day.
And as a result, the Greenfield hockey team captured the Western Mass. Class B championship on Thursday.
Chicopee’s Trevor Seidell-Poirier tied the game 4-4 with 2:10 left in the third period, his fourth goal of the game. The Green Wave used a timeout to collect themselves and found a way to score the go-ahead goal shortly after.
MJ Paulin got the puck in the Greenfield end and sent a pass up the boards to Knight. The junior drove down the left side, was pulled down to the ice by a Chicopee defender but was able to finish through the contact, putting the Green Wave ahead, 5-4, with just 1:39 to play.
Greenfield killed off a late penalty and came away with a 5-4 victory, taking home its second consecutive Western Mass. title at Olympia Ice Center.
“You have to love high school hockey,” Green Wave coach Adam Bouchard said. “This is what you live for if you’re lucky enough to play high school hockey. These were two great teams playing against each other. Green Wave hockey, that’s what we do. We try to outwork the other team and we were able to come out with that win.”
The pass from Paulin to Knight is something the two have been working on all season.
“I remember the pass coming up,” Knight said. “It was a beautiful pass. We’ve been working on it all year and finally connected on it. I wheeled down, someone told me I was getting hooked or slashed but I backhanded it and found the back of the net somehow.”
It was a wild third period. The Green Wave (11-6-2) entered the final 15 minutes leading 3-2, but the Pacers (8-11-1) didn’t let the lead last long. Seidell-Poirier drove in off a faceoff and sniped a shot to tie the game with 14:12 to go in the period.
Greenfield answered just two minutes later. Jake Jurek got the puck behind the Chicopee goal and sent a pass to Matt Garvin out front, who tipped it in to give the Green Wave a 4-3 lead with 12:14 to play.
It looked like that might hold to the end, with Greenfield killing off a pair of Pacer power plays but Seidell-Poirier wouldn’t let that happen. With 2:10 to play, the senior won the faceoff himself, took the puck and lobbed it past Green Wave keeper Josh Bordeax, tying the game 4-4.
“This is exactly what we worked for,” Bouchard said. “There’s a reason we practice the way we practice. You make practice harder than the game is going to be, you’ll be able to lift up in those tough times. To see Sammy Knight take that pass from MJ and bury it, that’s why he’s one of our leaders. We have a great group of seniors and a great group of captains. They knew what they had to do and they got it done. It was unbelievable.”
In addition to his winner, Knight also put the Green Wave on the board to open the game. Hunter Smith took the puck in the Chicopee end, danced around with it and drew the defense to him before slipping a pass across the ice to Knight, who tapped it home to give Greenfield the opening lead.
The Green Wave tacked on a second goal later in the period off an incredible pass by Jayson Smith.
The freshman had the puck on the Greenfield end of the ice, saw a streaking Derek Wissmann and tossed a saucer pass that lofted just over the Pacer defense and right onto the stick of Wissmann, who finished the breakaway to give the Green Wave a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Seidell-Poirier did all he could to keep Chicopee in the game in the second period. With 11 minutes to play in the second Seidell-Poirier got the puck on his stick behind his net on the power-play and did his best Connor McDavid impression. The senior took it coast-to-coast, deking his way through the Greenfield defense before finishing top shelf to cut the Green Wave lead to 2-1.
“He’s the most dynamic player in Western Mass. Div. 4 ice hockey, maybe even all of Western Mass.,” Bouchard said of Seidell-Poirier. “He’s skilled, he’s fast, he’s smart and he’s conditioned. He never comes off the ice. He might have took five breaks all game.”
Greenfield answered quickly to regain its two-goal lead. Shane Prusak passed the puck up to Trevor Kuchieski, who drove down the right side and sniped a shot just over the left shoulder of Pacer goalie Dylan Rooney and into the top corner of the goal to give the Green Wave a 3-1 lead with 10:17 to play in the period.
Seidell-Poirier then had a near repeat of his first goal a minute after Kuchieski scored. The senior once again took the puck the length of the ice, weaving his way around defenseman and putting a shot past Bordeaux to cut the Greenfield lead to 3-2 with 9:10 to play in the second. It was the final goal of the period, with both teams unable to capitalize on power play opportunities late in the frame.