Second Period Costs Hornets on Home Ice
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – It has been a rough winter for the McCann Tech hockey team, but it did play like a team that had given up the season to start Wednesday’s rematch against Easthampton.
Far from it, the Hornets dominated at times and exited the period down by a score of 2-1.
But McCann Tech could not maintain that momentum as the Eagles scored six second-period goals en route to a 10-3 win at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. Zach Roy had a hat trick for Easthampton, which scored 10 against the Hornets for the second time this season.
Drew Thompson and Minti Peterson scored for the visitors in the first seven minutes of the game, but McCann Tech held its own in the first 15 minutes, keeping the shots even.
And with 4 minutes, 34 seconds on the clock, Liam Noyes converted an assist from Everett Bayliss to get the Hornets on the scoreboard. Austin Buda also was credited with an assist, and it was a one-goal game at the first intermission.
“I thought we played an exceptionally good first period,” McCann Tech coach Matt Parise said. “I actually think our last five games have been pretty good. We’ve been leading all five at one point in time.”
The Hornets (1-11-1) were 1-3-1 in the five games coming into Wednesday’s contest. That run included a 6-3 win over Chicopee, two two-goal losses and a 6-6 tie at Belchertown.
But given the result when the Hornets traveled to meet Easthampton back in December, even Parise wondered how his team would come out in the rematch.
“I was a little worried about [a letdown] going into it,” he said. “But I thought our first period was like, ‘All right. We showed we’re here. We’re ready to play.
“And I think when all three of our lines are rolling, we’re pretty competitive. It’s taken us a little bit to get there. But we’ve turned that corner. But that’s a good team, and all the kids can score.”
Seven different Eagles lit the lamp on Wednesday night.
Easthampton scored five straight to open the second period, when it peppered McCann Tech keeper Will Braman (17 saves) with 18 shots on goal.
McCann Tech’s Dallas Ritcher snapped Easthampton’s run when he scored with assists from Will Apotsos and Brennan Vallieres to make it 7-2.
But Parker Christy scored on a breakaway with .2 seconds left in the period to make it a six-goal margin again.
The Eagles scored twice in the first four minutes of a third period that was played under running time.
Ritcher scored his second goal of the game, assisted by John Stack and Ethan Wilson, to close out the scoring.
McCann Tech has one more regular season game left, at home on Wednesday against Connecticut’s Housatonic Valley Regional on Wednesday.
It will be Senior Night for McCann Tech, but most of the Hornets will be cheering on the graduating seniors and looking forward to using the experience they gained this year down the road.
“We’re four seniors, and two are goalies,” Parise said. “So we’re literally losing two players that play normally. Our leading scorer is a sophomore and, the second is a junior. The next one is a freshman. So we’re very young. It’s hard to take a lick like this, but you learn from it.
“I was happy to see we had a freshman goalie [Ben Harris, nine saves] get in there in the third, and he did pretty good. He’s pretty raw. So it was cool to see him get a little bit of time.”