WEST SPRINGFIELD — Austin Deren took a second to collect himself before he turned and sent a perfect saucer pass through the crease, hoping it would hit a South Hadley stick. Instead, it soared through a mass of bodies crashing to the net and skittered harmlessly to the other side of the rink. Deren slammed his stick down on the ice in frustration before chasing after the play in the dying seconds of the second period.
It was the same story all game for the Tigers on Monday – they just didn’t have the puck luck they needed against Ludlow, and fell 6-1 in a post-Christmas showdown at Olympia Ice Center.
“Any puck we wanted just wouldn’t go our way. It would rim up the wall and hit our skate, and instead of kicking to our hands, it kicked to their tape and (would) go the other way,” South Hadley head coach Kevin Stefanik. “We didn’t have a lot of bounces. I think we had a lot of mental lapses today. You can’t take that one away from Ludlow. They played great, they did everything that they needed to do to succeed.”
Ludlow’s Ben Corbin was on fire for the Lions, finishing the game with two goals and two assists. Nolan Wikar was also on hat trick watch for Ludlow, picking up two goals.
Joe Cigal scored South Hadley’s lone goal of the contest, a late power-play goal in the third period. Despite what the scoreboard said, South Hadley netminder Devin Carleton kept the Tigers in the game, making 32 saves in a contest where the club was outshot 38-15.
The Tigers (1-2-1) were also playing shorthanded, with senior defender KadynLaramee out due to illness. Laramee, one of the team’s most relied-upon blueliners, was sorely missed on the ice, and his absence forced the rest of the lineup to shuffle.
Ludlow put South Hadley behind the eight-ball early, with Corbin scoring just 21 seconds into the first period to take a 1-0 lead. They tallied their second goal of the game with 2:17 remaining in the period, a shot from Brice Pereira assisted by Corbin.
“I thought they moved the puck well, they caused us to definitely run around a lot,” Stefanik said of his team’s play. “After just those first two goals that (Ludlow) had, we knew they were both positioning errors for the most part, coverage errors, breakdowns.”
Though Cigal was the only player to find the back of the net, the Tigers had other positives that didn’t make the score sheet as well, whether it was Carleton’s strong play or players stepping up and blocking shots to protect their netminder.
“We all know Devin (Carleton) played out of his mind… I had, you know, guys blocking shots more. Austin Deren, definitely — he must have had six or seven blocked shots,” Stefanik said.
Those little things helped the team stay within reach in the second period. The Tigers started getting their legs and swinging momentum their way in the middle frame, with several of their best opportunities coming during that stanza. Though Corbin solved Carleton again to make it 3-0, South Hadley was able to hold them to just one goal despite the Lions firing 19 shots on Carleton in the second.
The third period quickly turned into a parade to the penalty box, quashing any flow that the Tigers might have tried to sustain. While it did work out in their favor — Cigal’s goal came on a four-on-three power play opportunity — it proved to be more of a hindrance than a help.
“It was back and forth. It didn’t dictate the game, but it definitely showed where the flaws were in our piece,” Stefanik said on his team’s special teams’ play. “It takes the flow away.”
Ludlow took advantage of both their power play and penalty kills; Wikar scored the Lions’ fourth goal of the contest on the power play, and then notched his second of the match on the penalty kill, a shorthanded goal that came just a minute after South Hadley’s goal and killed any momentum that the Tigers tried to generate. Ludlow’s final goal was scored with just under five minutes remaining, when Corbin fed Brandon Gomes late in the third period.
South Hadley returns to action Thursday when it plays Easthampton at 2 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Arena in Holyoke.
Oakmont 2, Belchertown 1 (OT) — Francis Henderson’s first-period goal looked like it might hold up as the winner, but host Oakmont tied the game in the third and Drake Nelson notched the game-winner in OT to secure a 2-1 victory on Monday at Iorio Arena on the campus of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham.
Andrew Fijal and Brady Moreau assisted on Henderson’s goal, which staked the visiting Orioles to a 1-0 lead in the opening period.
Oakmont held a 25-18 edge in shots, with Belchertown goalie Tim Mitus making 23 saves.
Easthampton 52, Mount Everett 38 – Host Easthampton pulled away in the second half behind a 20-point outing from Lauren Morse in Monday’s victory.
Morse drilled four 3-pointers to lead three Eagles in double figures. KayleyDownie (13 points) and Maria Belfakih (10) also aided the scoring cause, and the duo combined for 19 of their 23 points after intermission.
Easthampton (4-0) led just 21-15 at halftime before taking a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Ness Bentley (five points) and Jess Cloutier (four) rounded out the scorers.