Wahconah Icers Clinch Western Mass Playoff Berth

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Wahconah hockey team got a clutch goal from Mike Cullett in the closing seconds of the second period to break a 1-1 tie and went on to a 5-1 win over Easthampton to clinch a post-season berth on Thursday night.

 

The Eagles, who came into the night with just one win, played even with Wahconah (9-3-1) for much of the night. And the visitors tied the game, 1-1, with 1 minute, 44 seconds left in the second period.

 

Moments later, Cullett won a neutral zone faceoff back to Corey Bazonski, who passed to Owen Kroboth.

 

Kroboth brought the puck up the left wing and cut into the slot where he left it for Cullett, and the senior tri-captain put away the eventual game-winner.

 

“I just saw Owen breaking to the net, and I knew he needed some support there,” Cullett said. “I just crashed the net and made a play on what I had.

 

“It was big. I mean, we were playing flat -- that first period and before that when they scored that goal, we were flat. Honestly, we just woke up after that, found our legs, found our skills.”

 

Luke Peplowski had scored the game’s first goal way back in the second minute, but a combination of a “flat” performance by Wahconah and a phenomenal stretch by Easthampton keeper Jayden Darling against Wahconah’s power play kept it a one-goal game.

 

In the third period, however, Bazonski, Ryan Polastri and Kropboth each lit the lamp to put the game away and send Wahconah to the Western Massachusetts tournament.

 

“It’s huge,” Cullett said. “I think a lot of us seniors haven’t even played in a Western Mass game. So it’s huge for us. … Now, our record this year shows that we’re trying to go all the way. We’re in it. We’re in it now. We bought in.”

 

Wahconah coach Matt Risley was thrilled to see his team achieve a long-sought goal.

 

“It’s huge for these kids,” he said. “These kids had to learn how to win. It’s been a long road for them. They went through some trials and tribulations, and now they get to enjoy the fact that they’re going to the playoffs.”

 

Before Wahconah’s offense got rolling in the third, it was a battle of the keepers for most of the night.

 

Antonio Scalise (19 saves) came up huge for Wahconah in the first period, stopping nine shots to preserve the 1-0 lead.

 

“He did a great job, kept us in the game,” Risley said. “He bailed the team out. They didn’t come out with their skating legs, and it was a good thing he came out sharp in the first period because we needed him. And he came up huge for us.”

 

Darling (21 saves) did the same for the Eagles in the second period after Easthampton drew a penalty with 5:18 on the clock.

 

Wahconah’s power play was on fire, but Darling stopped seven shots during the two-minute man-advantage to keep it a one-goal game.

 

“That goalie stood on his head,” Risley said. “But I was more focused on us getting the puck to the net, and if you do that, good things eventually will happen. And they did.”

 

Easthampton rode the momentum of that penalty kill to a tying goal moments later.

 

But Cullett and Wahconah got the last momentum swing of the period, and that was the difference.

 

“We came in here into the second intermission, and we were like, ‘We’ve got to go out there, and we’ve got to put the puck in the net, put it on net, and we’ll win this game, that’s all we need to do,” Cullett said.

 

Wahconah will start working on improving its tournament seed on Wednesday when it goes to North Adams to face Drury.