Favre Hat Trick Salvages Tie for Wahconah Icers
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Josh Favre scored going to the ice on a breakaway midway through the third period to complete a three-goal comeback and give the Wahconah hockey team a 3-3 tie with Taconic on Wednesday at the Boys & Girls Club.
“I was on my butt before I knew the puck went in,” the McCann Tech junior said with a smile.
Kyle Gazillo fed Favre the puck in the neutral zone, and he did the rest.
“What happened was, it was a nice clear out of our defensive zone, and what I did was I carried it up and went around two defenders, and then I pulled it to the middle and skated right at the net,” Favre said. “And right at the top of the offensive zone, I took it and pulled out and went straight to the net and shot it right in the bottom corner.”
Corey Callender made 24 saves as Wahconah managed a 1-1-1 split of the season series and avenged last week’s 4-3 loss to Taconic.
“That was a humiliating loss, and we didn’t want to lose again,” Favre said. “A tie is better than a loss, but we would have liked to have won for sure.”
Both Wahconah and Taconic could have used the “W” as they battle for a berth in the Western Massachusetts tournament, but the stalemate kept hope alive for both programs heading into the home stretch.
“You never want to lose a 3-0 lead or a 3-1 lead,” Taconic coach Jeff Daury said. “The kids are disappointed. But it’s not like we gave it away. You have to give Wahconah credit for coming back and really putting the pressure on us.”
Steve Poripski scored the game’s first two goals, and Brandon Peaslee added a goal to give Taconic a 3-0 lead with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left in the second period.
Poripski’s first goal came on a breakaway that started with a save by Taconic’s Logan Spagnuolo (19 saves). Midway through the second period, Poripski beat two defenders on the right wing and slipped a shot past Callendar to make it 2-0. Peaslee’s blast from the left-wing faceoff dot gave Taconic a 3-0 cushion.
But Gazillo and Ben McColgan set up Favre with just more than two minutes left in the second to get Wahconah on the board.
Then, early in the third, Favre scored on a delayed penalty to get his team within a goal.
“I don’t want to say we came unhinged, but it felt like once it got to 3-2, you could see we did panic a little bit,” Daury said. “And then when it got to 3-3, it was weird, I thought we settled down a little bit, and it was an up and down game.”
After Favre’s equalizer, both keepers stood up to keep it 3-3 and add to each team’s sense of urgency going into its next game on Saturday: at home against St. Mary’s for Taconic and at home in North Adams against Easthampton for Wahconah.
“When I think of where we were five and a half weeks ago, we are playing really, really good hockey,” Daury said. “I’m disappointed with the tie but thrilled to death with the direction the kids are heading in. That goal by Poripski, that’s as good a goal as you’re going to see.”