12th-Straight Win Sends Wahconah to Finals

Wahconah celebrates after scoring the first goal of the game.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Wahconah Regional High School goaltender Roger Stedman held Belchertown to just one goal to help his team advance to the Division 3-A ice hockey finals with a 2-1 win.

Stedman stopped 21-of-22 shots — with 11 saves in the third period — on Monday night at the semifinals at Olympia Ice Center.

His only blemish of the evening came on the final shot he faced but Stedman and his defense held on for the remaining 74 seconds.

"He's been doing this for four years," Wahconah coach Don Disbrow said of his goalie. "Those things happen, luckily we had a two-goal lead."

Wahconah (15-6-1), winners of 12 straight, will face Chicopee on Thursday, again at Olympia at 5:30 p.m.

Although Wahconah was the home team with the second seed, the high school crowd of the relatively nearby sixth-seeded Belchertown Orioles were loud from the get-go, cheering on their team and switching gears to playfully boo the first couple Wahconah starters during introductions.

Wahconah looked sluggish early on as Belchertown won the first draw, forced its way into the offensive zone and fired off the first shot in its first shift. Following that shot and just 49 seconds in, Belchertown forward Alex Bachand was tripped by forward Jeff Hancock for the first penalty of the game.

Belchertown kept the puck in its offensive zone for much of the kill but couldn't finish.

And then, Wahconah woke up. Disbrow credited his team's forecheck and speed for setting the tempo.

"We were flat the first two or three minutes," Disbrow said. "They came out, took it to us, but luckily we picked it up..."

Hancock made himself at home in the slot and fired a shot past goalie Kyle Greene's stick to take the 1-0 advantage just 4 minutes, 15 seconds into the game.

Belchertown responded by upping its physical game and created opportunities with passes through the center of the low slot — but no one was home to answer.

Soon after Wahconah regained possession and senior forward Patrick Jamross buried the eventual gamewinner. Jamross, the first recipient of the afforementioned introductory boos, danced around the defense and blasted a shot past Greene's glove.

Although Belchertown took the early shot lead, 4-3, the team found itself down 2-0 with 9:02 remaining.

Wahconah controlled the next five minutes, playing mostly in the Belchertown zone, adding another seven shots to its total.

Hancock almost increased the lead with 3:40 remaining on a breakaway chance but shot wide. Soon after, Steadman spoiled a 2-on-1 opportunity for Belchertown.

The second period started slow on both sides with each team exchanging possession with no shots in the opening minutes. Both teams eventually sped up, upping their hit counts and shot totals, but failed to finish.

As the period came to a close, many of those on and off the ice thought Belchertown split the lead with less than 10 seconds left. But the bullet that beat Steadman couldn't beat the post and as Belchertown was celebrating a no-goal, the clock ran down.

"I thought it [went in] too," Disbrow said.

With 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in regulation, Belchertown called a timeout. They kept pouring on the shots, but Steadman didn't let them find the net.

Wahconah spent much of the third playing defense, but caught a late break when Belchertown forward Ryan Dupont was busted for slashing Hjalmar Gustafsson's helmet with 3:38 to go.

However, that didn't slow down the Belchertown desperate attack. The lightning-fast Bachand broke free on the right side and flew towards Stedman. He didn't score but instead drew a hooking call from Gustafsson.

Wahconah almost put the game shortly after when Hancock broke free again, but he failed to beat Greene, who stopped 21-of-23 shots that evening.

Belchertown finally broke through. Skating 6-on-5 with Greene on the bench, Belchertown's Dylan Gilien snuck a shot pass a busy Stedman with 1:14 left. Belchertown couldn't get another shot on the net in its final 74 seconds however and Wahconah punched its ticket to the Western Massachusetts Division 3-A finals.

Wahconah previously faced fifth-seeded Chicopee on Jan. 20, losing 10-2 — and then went on to win 12 straight.

"We're going to have our hands full," Disbrow said.