Wahconah's 4-Goal Third Period Secures Western Mass. Title

Wahconah rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the third to beat Chicopee, 7-6, for the Western Massachusetts Division 3-A title.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The high-octane Chicopee High School hockey team's offense buzzed in four goals in the final 3 minutes, 12 seconds of the second period to take a 6-3 lead over Wahconah Regional High School in the Divison 3-A Western Massachusetts championship on Thursday evening.

"We were trying to keep it positive, saying 'Listen this isn't over,'" Wahconah coach Don Disbrow said. "We knew we could score some. We needed to make sure Roger [Stedman] was going to shut them down the rest of the way."

Wahconah did just that. Goalie Roger Stedman saved all 13 shots he faced in the third period while forwards Dan Flynn and Hjalmar Gustafsson scored a goal each and Andrew Beaudoin buried two — including the game-winner with 3:22 left in regulation.

The 13th-straight win gives Wahconah (16-6-1) a shot at the state title.

The game was physical from the get-go with both teams tossing each other on the ice and into the boards but the referees stayed out of it early on, giving just one penalty opportunity in the first two periods.

Just two minutes, nine seconds into the game, Chicopee forward Devon Longtin beat Stedman for the game's first goal. The Chicopee students prematurely chanted "Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé" but junior forward Jeff Hancock answered 33 seconds later, courtesy of a Mike Bloom feed in front of the crease.

Back-and-fourth play ensued, but Chicopee kept piling the shots on. With 5:50 to go in the period, Chicopee forward Jeff Zebrowski beat Stedman on his stick side. At this point, Chicopee led 10-2 in shots.

Wahconah had some opportunities, but couldn't muster another goal — even in its only power-play chance of the game. Chicopee took a 2-1 lead and a 14-6 shot advantage into the first break.

Chicopee won the opening draw and kept pouring in the shots against Stedman, who saved four in the first minute of the period. But the tide turned with the Devon Baittini-Hancock-Bloom line out once again. Bloom and Hancock broke into a 2-on-1, beat the defender and headed towards goaltender Jonathan Santos. In the slot, Hancock and Bloom exchanged passes on the give and go, with Hancock finishing the play past a helpless Santos for the tie with 10:27 remaining.

About six minutes later, Wahconah struck again when Gustafsson cut the defense on his right and opted to fire the puck past Santos instead of passing through the slot — a decision that put his team up 3-2.

And then the powerful Chicopee offense struck back.

The Pacers scored three straight goals on as many shots to take a 5-3 lead. Scott Geissler started the scoring with 3:12 remaining, Nick Jablonski followed with another 17 seconds later and Brian Turnbull buried one with 2:37 to go. Turnbull wasn't done however, and pushed the lead to 6-3 with 15.1 seconds left in the period.

Wahconah didn't wait to rally. Just more than a minute into the final period, Beaudoin connected to Flynn, who beat Santos to cut the lead to 6-4. A little more than a minute later, Beaudoin scored one of his own with a heads-up play, poking a loose puck past Santos.

The team also gave Stedman a rest, who didn't have to fend away a shot up to that point.

And then with 9:25 to go, Gustafsson danced into the slot and hit the top shelf to knot the game up at 6-6, earning him a loud "Let's go Sweden" cry from the Wahconah faithful.

The Wahconah penalty kill had its first test with 5:52 left after Hancock was called for slashing. The unit didn't give in though and contained the offensive juggernaut.

After the penalty expired, Wahconah struck back. Beaudoin found a juicy rebound in the slot and backhanded the puck past Santos's glove to give Wahconah a 7-6 lead with 3:32 remaining.

But again, Hancock was accused of tripping with 2:28 left and after a Chicopee timeout, Wahconah's penalty kill prevailed again. Flynn and Beaudoin put their bodies on the line, blocking the passing lanes for Stedman.

"That's a large part of a penalty kill at the upper levels, the shot blocking," Disbrow said. "In the [National Hockey League] these guys are getting paid millions of dollars and here's a bunch of high school kids out there doing it. One kid actually got hit in the leg and he was out there a shift later.

"It goes to show you their heart and their determination and they knew what was on the line and wanted it that bad."

After an icing and a Wahconah timeout with 47.9 remaining, Chicopee failed to score with six skaters.

Stedman saved 37 of 43 shots while Santos stopped 26 of 33.

"I'm happy for the kids. This was a great group of kids because they came in willing to learn... Every one of them was coachable," Disbrow said. "This was a fun year. Regardless of the championship, it was a lot of fun and a good group of kids."

With the win and Western Massachusetts title, Wahconah advances to the state semifinals on Thursday against the Central Massachusetts winner, to be determined on Monday. The game will take place at the MassMutual Center (the former Springfield Civic Center) on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m.