Hockey: Ludlow holds off Easthampton in Class B semifinals, 6-1
Published: 02-22-2023 8:31 PM |
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Midway through the final period Wednesday night, the Easthampton hockey team knew it still had a chance against Ludlow in the Western Mass. Class B semifinals.
Trailing 4-0 midway through the third, third-seeded Easthampton scored its first goal of the contest on an innocent-looking play. Zach Roy went bar-down for the Eagles, assisted by Gabe Growhoski, to make it 4-1, and head coach Tim Pfau immediately called a timeout to regroup his team in an effort to pull back within striking distance.
“We're just saying we got to keep it going. We got to keep scoring goals, we knew we were in the game. We had a chance,” Easthampton’s Pete Sullivan said. “We would have had a shot at (getting) back in, but we just didn't capitalize.”
The No. 2 Lions were the ones capitalizing on the Eagles’ mistakes, and a three-goal third period was enough to propel Ludlow to a 6-1 victory at the Olympia Ice Center. The Lions will face either No. 1 Amherst or No. 4 Belchertown in the Class B title game on Saturday back at the Olympia (4 p.m.).
Little mistakes were what sank the Eagles – Ludlow’s Ben Corbin notched a shorthanded goal to start the third period, and when Easthampton goalie Paige Galpin went off late in the third to give the team an extra attacker, the bench was called for too many skaters during the ensuing line change. Sam Cocchi scored on the ensuing power play to put things out of reach.
Despite the loss, the Eagles’ season isn’t over yet – their 12-7-1 record is enough to get them into the MIAA Division 4 state tournament.
“We’ve got like two more weeks of practice and we’re just going to keep on grinding, see what we can do,” Sullivan said.
Ludlow got the scoring started in the first period. Ludlow’s Nick DeRosi carried the puck into the offensive zone and Cocchi finished off a passing play in the crease, tapping the puck past Galpin just over six minutes into the opening frame.
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Both teams played clean in the first period, with neither squad committing a penalty in the opening 15 minutes.
Both teams had a few good looks, with Easthampton earning a pair of two-on-one opportunities and Ludlow trying a few cross-ice passes to get Galpin moving laterally. Besides Cocchi’s goal, neither team lit the lamp in the early stages.
It took the Lions just 10 seconds to double their lead early in the second period, as DeRosi scored for the home team to make it 2-0.
The physicality amped up in the middle frame, and so did Easthampton’s opportunities – the Eagles had a long shift in the offensive zone in the middle of the period that produced some good looks. Galpin made a pair of strong saves with five minutes to go and the Eagles had another chance with the puck bouncing around the crease near the three-minute mark.
But despite all the near-misses, it was Ludlow again that lit the lamp. With two minutes left in the period, the team flung a shot at the net and chaos ensued in the crease. With Galpin falling to the ice trying to find the puck, junior Josh Grandfield slammed it home to make it 3-0 with a minute and 56 seconds remaining.
“We knew we had to respect their speed, their passing ability – that’s a great team,” Pfau said on Ludlow. “We had to be a little cautious of that and then just take advantage of our opportunities as a team, which I think we left a lot out there.”
It didn’t score in the second, but Easthampton had a glimmer of hope as the buzzer sounded to end the middle period. Ludlow’s Nolan Wikar was called for a cross-checking penalty, the first infraction of the game for either team, and the Eagles started the third on a power play looking for a spark.
Instead of a spark, it was Ludlow that buried the dagger on the power play. Corbin skated down the right wing and flipped the puck past Galpin with 48 seconds left in the power play to make it 4-0. After Roy’s goal for the Eagles and Cocchi’s second goal of the game on the PP, Trevor Goff finished out the scoring for Ludlow with 46 seconds left.