Kacey Bellamy moves the puck out of the defensive zone Friday night. (Photo by Mark St. Onge)
WESTFIELD – Westfield native Kacey Bellamy and her fellow Team USA Women’s Olympic Hockey teammates experienced heartache at the highest level, losing to Canada twice in the Gold Medal games.
On Friday, she enjoyed life on the other end of the spectrum in a comeback victory for a good cause.
Bellamy and the Ice Cats rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to defeat the Five College Movers 4-3 in a Kevin J. Memorial Hockey Tournament game late Friday night at Amelia Park Ice Arena.
Jake Bolton went on a scoring rampage for the Ice Cats in the third period, scoring three consecutive goals in the final 6:03, including the game-winner on a breakaway with 13.1 seconds remaining to lift his team to victory.
Former star Bomber Corey Bellamy set up Bolton with an assist on the winning goal.
“I came in not knowing what to expect,” said two-time Olympic defenseman Kacey Bellamy, who played for the first time in the tournament’s five-year existence. “It was amazing. The game had a great pace. It was pretty intense. It’s great for the whole community to come together. It made me feel like I was playing in a USA game. I’m not kidding. And the ending was fantastic.”
Ice Cats’ Kacey Bellamy gets tangled up with a player from the Five College Movers during Friday night’s Kevin J. Major Memorial Tournament at Amelia Park Ice Arena. (Photo by Mark St. Onge)
Five College Movers were moving and shaking early, scoring the game’s first two goals in the second period. Brett DiClementi got the Ice Cats on the board with 55.1 ticks remaining in the middle frame, but Five College Movers quickly reclaimed a two-goal lead when Geoff Curadi scored with 13.7 seconds left.
Bolton responded with a goal at the 6:03 mark of the third period, and added another – the game-tying goal – with a slap shot from just inside the blue line on the left wing that found the back of the net.
The memorial ice hockey tournament began roughly three weeks after the passing of Kevin Major, a former St. Mary High School hockey star, who died suddenly at the age of 21 following sudden cardiac arrest.
Through the tourney and the KEVS Foundation, the family has attempted to raise awareness about heart conditions in young athletes throughout, not just the local community, but all over the state.
“We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves,” Kacey Bellamy explained. “That’s the bottom line. We’re playing for Kev.”
Games will continue all throughout the weekend culminating with multiple level championships Sunday night.
