Alfonso Has Hat Trick as Wahconah Gets First Win

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- After going five weeks into the season without a win, the Wahconah boys hockey team is used to waiting for good things to happen.

 

So going 11 minutes without a goal on Wednesday, despite outshooting Southwick 15-3 in the first period, was no big deal.

 

Neither was having just two goals to show for having dominated the Rams through two periods.

 

All that patience was rewarded when Mason Alfonso scored had a natural hat trick in the third period to propel Wahconah to a 5-1 win at the Boys & Girls Club.

 

“It feels pretty good,” Alfonso said. “I think we’ll go on and win more because we got that one. We’ve got the confidence now.”

 

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Wahconah bench stormed onto the ice to get keeper Jake Risley, who made 11 saves, including eight in the third period.

 

Coach Matt Risley was relieved to see his team’s patience and hard work pay off.

 

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “They’ve put in a lot of hard work, and it’s nice to see it finally pay off with some goals and a lead and getting some guys into the game.”

 

Southwick keeper Andrew Morris did his best to keep the goals to a minimum, turning aside 35 shots.

 

And Wahconah (1-9-1) could have -- and probably felt it should have -- had even more shots.

 

Ten minutes into a 0-0 game, Wahconah had a 2-on-1 opportunity but failed to put a shot on net.

 

Late in the second period, it earned its first power play but could not generate a single shot with two minutes on the man advantage.

 

“I think there were plays to be made that we weren’t making, and we were making it tough on ourselves,” Matt Risley said. “But we just kept our heads up, kept positive, and kept at it.

 

“We didn’t set the power play up. We didn’t have the patience in the zone to set up the power play. We got kind of chasing our tails there. But it’s something to learn from. We need to have the patience to get in there to set the power play up to get some shots.”

 

Wahconah scored its first goal off a steal by Alfonso in the offensive zone. He got the puck to Aiden Kotski, who slid it across the slot to a wide open Ryan LaPierre. LaPierre finished to make it 1-0 with 3 minutes, 58 seconds left in the first period.

 

Early in the second, Liam Anderson got a turnover in the neutral zone, brought the puck into the offensive zone and fired a shot from the right wing dot for an unassisted goal and a 2-0 lead.

 

That is where it stood until Alfonso caught fire in the third.

 

The Pittsfield High junior converted an assist from LaPierre for a breakaway goal on a delayed penalty three minutes into the third.

 

Less than a minute later, Alfonso scored from Kotski after a neutral zone turnover to put Wahconah up, 4-0.

 

Southwick got on the board with a power play goal in the 38th minute.

 

But in the latter stages of the third, Alfonso was in the right place at the right time, knocking in the rebound of an Ernie Lampron blast from the point to provide the final margin of victory.

 

Wahconah gets to savor this victory for a while, taking more than week to get ready for its Jan. 26 game at Chicopee Comp. Risley’s team has eight games left, including two more against rival Drury, which handed Wahconah a 3-3 tie back in the season opener.

 

It’s too soon to talk about making a playoff run, but Wahconah can dream a little after Wednesday night.

 

“Getting a win is the first step,” Risley said. “That’s the first step. Getting a win, letting these guys enjoy the moment. Hopefully that helps build confidence, and we can grow from there.”