GREENFIELD — The Greenfield hockey team continues to find ways to win games in the postseason.
On Wednesday in the preliminary round of the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament against Gardner, the Green Wave scored the opening goal and rode its defense the remainder of the game.
Josh Bordeaux saved all 24 shots that came his way and Greenfield tacked on two late goals to advance to the Round of 32 with a 3-0 victory at Collins-Moylan.
“When you walked into the rink tonight, it was electric,” Green Wave coach Adam Bouchard said. “Every minute it got closer and closer to game time, the energy was just amazing. To come out and execute what we wanted to do was exactly what we needed.”
It was the perfect complement of offense and defense for No. 32 Greenfield (13-6-2) on Wednesday. The Green Wave forecheck gave the No. 33 Wildcats (9-8-2) trouble throughout the game, forcing turnovers that led to great opportunities on goal.
On offense, Greenfield was able to dictate the game and had the majority of quality chances throughout.
“There’s two ways to look at it, you can either score more than the other team or make sure they score less than you,” Bouchard said. “We were able to pull out both of those tonight. Our team defense was strong today. Our faceoff responsibilities were something we were proud of. We were able to maintain puck possession to continue our forecheck and get the puck out of our zone. Don’t take anything away from Joshua’s saves, either.”
The Green Wave opened the scoring at the 7:37 mark of the first period, with the forecheck creating the opportunity.
Shane Prusak stole the puck in the Gardner zone, made a move behind the net and sent a cross-crease pass to Matt Lavoine, who tapped it home to give Greenfield the early 1-0 lead.
“Our forecheck was really strong tonight,” Bouchard said. “We were able to do the forechecking we like. Prusak found Lavoine backdoor and it was a great way to start a game, never mind a state playoff game.”
That score held through the remainder of the first period and into the third period, with neither team able to light up the scoreboard.
The Green Wave defense did an excellent job preventing opportunities for the Wildcats, limiting them to just one shot on goal in the second period. Greenfield defenseman Kevin Baumann felt the momentum gained from the early goal fueled the Green Wave the rest of the way.
“The momentum from that first goal really kept us in it,” Baumann said. “They played hard, they have good forwards and they kept pounding. That momentum carried us.”
The Green Wave had an opportunity to stretch the lead to 2-0 with just over 12 minutes to play in the third period while Gardner was on the power play. A mishandled puck by the Wildcats led to a Prusak breakaway, but Gardner keeper Mark Quinn came up with a massive save to keep it a one-goal game.
The Wildcats came out firing in the third, playing physical and putting five shots on goal in the opening two minutes of the period to try to even the score. When they couldn’t get anything past Bourdeax, Gardner was forced to take chances and Greenfield made they pay for it late.
“We always want to have the lead,” Bouchard said. “We took the early lead and it seemed like Gardner didn’t really start taking chances until that third period. We knew our forecheck was strong and we’d be able to pin them down low. As the game progressed, they started fly out their offside wingers and go for the home run pass. When our forecheck was working, that makes a 5-on-4 when we do it properly.”
With 4:03 to play, Baumann took advantage of one of those chances the Wildcats took. He stole the puck, drove in and ripped a shot from the left circle that went off Quinn’s shoulder and into the top corner of the goal, giving the Green Wave a two-goal cushion.
“There’s nothing like it after that,” Baumann said. “The momentum after that was insane. We had a good forecheck and it spit up to me. I knew I could make the move. It’s hard holding a one-goal lead throughout the game. I’m proud of the team for doing that.”
With 2:37 to play, Sammy Knight had nearly the same opportunity Baumann did, driving to the exact same spot and sending a missile that made its way to the top right corner of the goal to five Greenfield a 3-0 lead, one that stood until the final whistle.
Next up for the Green Wave is a trip to The Bog Ice Arena in Kingston on Saturday for a meeting with No. 1 Norwell. Coming off a league title, a Western Mass. title and a state tournament win, Greenfield will enter with all the confidence in the world.
“We’re going to try to keep it going,” Baumann said. “Can’t wait for the next one.”