AMHERST – There’s bound to be some rustiness during the first game of the season, and that was true for both the South Hadley and Amherst hockey teams on Friday night. However, it didn’t take either team much time to get their skates under them, and no time at all for both of their goalies to put on a duel in front of a full house at the Mullins Center Practice Rink.
Ultimately, the Tigers and Hurricanes skated to a 1-1 tie after both teams scored one goal in regulation and skated a scoreless five minutes of overtime.
That said, both teams could have skated away with the win – South Hadley netminder Devin Carleton, only a sophomore, made several unbelievable stops to keep the Tigers in the game, and the Hurricanes killed off a three and a half minute major penalty in overtime to preserve the tie, a performance that left Hurricanes head coach Mike Rousseau duly impressed.
“Nothing had me ready for three and a half minutes of (four)-on-three. And we practiced it for maybe 10 minutes this week,” said Rousseau. “(To be) able to stay in the middle, get in the shooting lanes, blocking shots, blocking passes – I couldn’t have practiced that for a week and had it done any better.”
That performance was only matched by Carleton’s play in net. South Hadley head coach Kevin Stefanik could only shake his head when asked about some of the saves made by Carleton, who’s still just a sophomore, throughout the game.
“He’s very quiet and reserved, but he’s a competitor, definitely. This is a big role for him to fit,” Stefanik said. “Goalies are a breed of their own and he’s the most normal goalie I’ve ever experienced. I (say) that definitely in a good sense because he’s a gamer through and through.”
That intensity was needed in South Hadley’s net, as Amherst’s offense got better and better as the game went on, carrying the puck into the zone with speed and getting several good looks on Carleton, particularly in the latter half of the game. Carleton was there to challenge them every time, making a number of jaw-dropping saves; the most spectacular perhaps was a heroic glove save late in the third period when the sophomore had already gone down and sprawled in the paint, yet somehow managed to get his glove up on a second chance opportunity right in the slot.
Quiet and reserved he may be, but when he’s in the net, Carleton is focused on one thing: the next shot that’s coming at him.
“I just don’t think about anything else besides the puck,” said Carleton. “I just keep focused on the puck.”
Amherst did manage to solve Carleton once in the opening frame; Carter Beckwith flew down the left wing and snapped home a wicked wrister with 8:46 remaining in the first period, assisted by Liam Flynn.
Hurricane goalie Charles May stood strong in the first period, stopping every shot he faced and sending Amherst into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
South Hadley tied the game up on the tail end of a power play, when Caleb Lundgren tapped home the puck at the side of the net, assisted by Kadyn Laramee and Connor McDonnell. The game remained tied at the end of the second period, with Carleton again making some huge stops to keep his team in the game.
After a scoreless third period, the game went into a five minute overtime period of four-on-four play, but it didn’t stay that way for long. A quick play along the boards saw South Hadley’s McDonnell get rocked by a high hit from Beckwith, which the referees quickly whistled as a boarding major with just over three and a half minutes remaining in the OT period. McDonnell was able to skate off the ice under his own power, shaken up but OK after the hit, and the Tigers knew there was no malicious intent behind it.
“I actually coached (Beckwith) too, and he’s a great hockey player. That’s not his game,” said Stefanik.
Down to just three players on the ice, the Hurricanes managed to pull off a successful penalty kill for the remainder of the overtime period to secure the tie, a near-monumental feat, especially in the first game of the season.
In general, both coaches were happy to skate away with a tie, knowing that there’s room for improvement but that this is a good starting point for their respective squads.
“The amount of passes between the South Hadley boys and our boys that were under sticks, over sticks, in people’s skates up – that’s just all rust, that’s not game-time sync,” said Rousseau. “But overall, I was pleased with the way we competed. Their goalie, Mr. Carleton, he played absolutely fabulous. You know, I can’t take anything away from their effort, our effort. It is what it is, and I’m glad we both got a point out of it.”