Saints surf past Wave at Olympia
St. Mary’s defeats Greenfield to advance in D3A hockey tourney
By PETER FRANCIS
Intern
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Following a 12-7-2 regular season, the Saints of St. Mary’s High School were rip-roaring and ready to go Tuesday night, as they broke the Green Wave of Greenfield High 4-2 at the Olympia to advance in the Western Massachusetts Division 3A hockey tournament.
Spurred on by their usual balanced offensive attack, which featured goals from freshman forward Andrew Booth and freshman defenseman Charlie White, St. Mary’s was able to exploit every Greenfield mistake offensively. The Saints were anchored in the net by junior netminder Zach Brown, who has evolved into one of the division’s top goalies in Western Massachusetts this season.
“We played great team hockey,” St. Mary’s coach Mike Goodreau said. “We got some great performances from some of our younger guys. (Andrew) Booth and (Charlie) White really stepped up for us. We got goals from Mark Dobek and Stephen Roache as well, so we proved that we have a very complete offensive team.”
St. Mary’s had to endure a rather quiet statistical night from the fraternal forward tandem of Trey and Nate Tremblay, whose masterful skating and aggressive forechecking aided the St. Mary’s cause. But the star of the night was Brown, who was dominant at times for Goodreau’s Saints.
“He played awesome,” Goodreau said, “whenever we’ve needed a big game from him, he’s given us just that. Teams that advance in the postseason in hockey usually have a great player in the net, and we have one of the best left in the tournament.”
Following the big opening round victory, St. Mary’s now has their sights set on a familiar foe, that being the Tigers of South Hadley high school, a team that has become quite the thorn in the side of the Saints in recent years.
“They’ve knocked us out of the tournament the past few seasons, so they seem to have our number,” Goodreau said, “but with the way we’re playing, I’m confident in our boys that we can get it done and advance.”
With the way they played in the first round, St. Mary’s fans are hoping they will get a few more chances to see the Zach Brown band this season. The Saints face South Hadley Monday at Olympia Ice Arena in West Springfield.
Peter Francis can be reached at [email protected]
