SPRINGFIELD — The ending for the South Hadley hockey team was disappointing, but memories of a Western Massachusetts championship will never fade for the Tigers.
South Hadley lost 4-0 to Central Mass. champion Grafton in the state Division 3A finals at the MassMutual Center on Wednesday.
“I made sure during warmups to take it all in,” South Hadley’s Nick Thibault said. “But I will remember winning Western Mass.”
After an evenly played first period and before a similar third period, Grafton unloaded on South Hadley in the second, scoring three goals to pull away.
Under first-year coach Larry Camus, a longtime assistant for South Hadley, the Tigers were back in the state championship for the first time since 2012.
“We’ve done a little more than we have in past years,” Camus said. “They did take to it. Halfway through the year we started to perform great. Down the playoff stretch nobody could beat us. But we’ll be back next year. ”
The Tigers knocked off defending champion Amherst Regional before taking down Chicopee to get to the state final.
“Overall we evolved each and every game,” South Hadley senior Will Hunter said. “We started off just looking to get the team together. When Western Mass. came around we were ready to go. We got closer and played like a family. We play for our brothers.”
The coaching change made a big difference this season for the Tigers. Not so much scheme-wise, but more how Camus communicated with his players.
“Larry is a patient guy,” Ortyl said. “He really let us grow.”
Senior captain Alex Joao agreed.
“He coached us more like a high school team,” Joao said. “We gained a better connection.”
The Tigers were undermanned against Grafton, which had a bigger roster.
“I didn’t have enough bodies this year,” Camus said. “I hope I get more next year. Winning is going to bring more kids to the program. But I thought we played great all year.”
Jake Remillard made 18 saves for South Hadley.
South Hadley managed 22 shots had good opportunities, but Grafton goalie Cam Powell was tremendous in net and collected the shutout.
“We weren’t taking good shots at times,” Camus said.
In the second period, South Hadley had one of its better scoring chances. Thibault fed freshman Mike Mazza in front of Powell, but Mazza’s attempt sailed high over the goal.
Sean Doherty almost scored in the second period, when he deflected a shot from the blue line.
South Hadley had multiple quality scoring attempts in the third period, but Powell stopped them all.
Grafton’s Tyler Hart scored the game’s first with an impressive move in front of the net that left Remillard defenseless and out of position. It was a power-play goal with Joao in the penalty box for high-sticking about a minute into the second period.
Noah Charron scored Grafton’s second goal when he collected a rebound in front of Remillard.
Late in the second, Brendan Coates’ faceoff win found Cam Thomas’ stick for another quick goal to make it 3-0 heading into the third period.
“When they got that third goal, it stuck a knife in us,” Camus said.
Jake Baker scored for Grafton on a rebound to make it 4-0 late in the third period.
