Belchertown Goalie Stymies McCann Tech in Home Opener
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The McCann Tech hockey team Wednesday outshot Belchertown, 34-15, in the first two periods.
And the Hornets were staring at a 3-1 deficit going to the third.
Any frustration McCann Tech was feeling bubbled over in the third period of an 8-2 loss in the home opener at Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink.
“I’m going to say there were some frustrations,” McCann Tech coach Matt Parise said. “Some kids started taking it upon themselves and doing a little bit too much.
“I thought our power play was very good, when we had it. We scored a power play goal tonight. We looked 1,000 percent better than we did against Taconic [on Saturday]. We worked very hard on that for two days this week.
“I think a little frustration happens in any sport. You get down, and one person tries to do too much. I think that was our third in a nutshell.”
Charlie Fijal was the main beneficiary, scoring three of his six goals in the third period to power Belchertown’s offense.
But it was Orioles netminder Curt Wojnas who made the biggest difference in the game, especially early on.
McCann Tech outshot Belchertown, 17-4, in the first period.
But the only player to light the lamp was Fijal, who slipped one past McCann Tech keeper Abby Fuls (20 saves) in the third minute of play.
Fijal scored again in the third minute of the second period, cashing in a rebound to put his team up, 2-0. And he made it a three-goal margin six minutes later when he scored from the right wing circle off a faceoff win.
McCann Tech finally was able to solve Wojnas (40 saves) with about three minutes left in the second period.
John Stack scored with assists from Nolan Booth and Austin Buda to make it a 3-1 game headed to the
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The Hornets did not have much to show for their efforts on the scoreboard after 30 minutes, but there was no doubt that McCann Tech looked sharper early on than it did in a one-goal loss to Taconic in the opener and maybe as good as the program has in a long time.
“I thought the first period was probably one of our best first periods I’ve seen us play in two years, since I’ve been here,” Parise said. “I thought we did everything well – breaking out of the zone with speed, putting the puck on the net.
“The goalie was very good, but still, we have to put the puck past him, regardless of how good he is. I didn’t think we had a very good second, and I think our third was atrocious.”
One highlight came in the 36th minute of the game when Booth scored a power play goal from the right wing off assists from Dallas Ritcher and Stack to make 5-2.
But Fijal scored his sixth of the night on a break up the right wing with about six minutes on the clock, and two penalties on the same whistle against the Hornets led to a 5-on-3 opportunity that Belchertown converted with 1:10 left to make it 7-2. The Orioles tacked on one more goal with 29 seconds on the clock.
McCann Tech (0-2) will look to bounce back and get its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Orr Rink to take on Amherst-Pelham.