Wahconah Icers Use Balanced Attack in Win over Taconic
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Five different players scored at least a goal, and 10 players got in on the scoring on Wednesday night as the Wahconah hockey team defeated Taconic, 7-3, at the Boys & Girls Club.
“I was happy with our offensive production tonight … a lot of different scorers,” Wahconah coach Dan MacWhinnie said. “We’re a team. We don’t have a superstar on the team. Everybody contributes. We dress 22 players, including 20 skaters and two goalies. We played 20 skaters and one goalie; our other goalie didn’t get in, which was my bad.
“We play everybody. Everybody is expected to play. Our practices are very competitive. Tonight was a good effort from the kids.”
Vinnie Orlandi and Mitch Andrews each scored a pair of goals, and Hoby MacWhinnie had a goal and two assists for Wahconah, which got 17 saves from keeper Corey Callender.
Josh Favre and Ben McColgan each had a goal and an assist in the win, which Coach MacWhinnie called an improvement from Wahconah’s last effort, a 5-3 loss at home to Mount Everett.
He said his players did get a little pumped up by the raucous crowd and the chance to beat rival Taconic.
“The kids get up for it,” he said. “We believe every game is a big game. We want to go out and do our best.
“Taconic -- a lot of the kids play youth league with Taconic kids, so there’s some familiarity with the players and the coaches for Taconic.”
Wahconah scored three times in the last three minutes of the first period to take over what had been an even game.
McColgan got things going with a goal from the slot at the 12 minute, 44 second mark. About a minute later, Andrews scored his first with assists from Thomas Cook and Toby Ellingwood. Finally, Favre notched Wahconah’s second power play goal of the period with help from MacWhinnie and Nico Moreno.
Wahconah went on to score four times in six chances with the man advantage.
“I’ve spent an awful lot of time coaching at every level there is,” Taconic coach Jeff Daury said. “And if you’re in the box, you’re not going to win hockey players. It’s as simple as that. Especially without your older, bigger, stronger players out there.”
After MacWhinnie scored to extend Wahconah’s lead to 4-0 early in the second period, Nikos Gian got Taconic on the board with a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Callendar high on the glove side.
Wahconah then added two more power play goals before intermission to go into the break ahead, 6-1.
Daury said Taconic got “rattled” in the middle stages of the game, when it allowed six goals in a span of 18 minutes.
“About 10 minutes in, it was 0-0, pretty even up and down, and I think we had about a 3-to-1 advantage in scoring opportunities, so I was pretty thrilled,” Daury said. “Then we had a turnover, and I think it got in the kids’ heads a little bit. … It went 1-2-3 really fast.
“And really, I don’t think we recovered until we had an opportunity to sit down between the second and third periods, and I thought we righted the ship.”
Daury was encouraged by a third period in which Taconic got goals from Brandon Peaslee and Aiden Kotski to win the stanza, 2-1. But he said, overall, the game was a learning experience for the squad he took over last weekend.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, and I think you have to give a lot of credit to Wahconah,” he said. “They did a really nice job tonight.”
Taconic goes to Amherst on Saturday. Wahconah hosts Mount Everett again on Monday.