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Submitted photo
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Division: Peewee A
Friday, March 2nd to Sunday, March 4th – Lake Placid, NY
Westfield takes “Runner-Up” Trophy at the Lake Placid International Tournament
Westfield completed their 2011-2012 tournament season in style by making the championship game of the Lake Placid Youth Hockey International tournament held up in Lake Placid, NY the weekend of March 2nd to March 4th.
The team won all of their three qualifying games before being cut down by the Highlanders from New Jersey in the tournament championship game. The Peewee A team from Westfield played their first game in the “1980 Rink” – the same rink where the US Olympic team upset the Soviet Olympic team in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Westfield got off to a good start by knocking off a tough Toms River, NJ team 2-1 on Friday morning in the 1980 Rink.
On Saturday, an 8-0 thrashing of the neighboring Berkshire (Mass.) Bruins in the “1932 Rink” clinched a spot for Westfield in the championship. A little known fact is that, in addition to hosting the Winter Olympics in 1980, the 1932 Winter Olympics were also held in Lake Placid.
A high intensity, fast paced 5-4 win over the New Jersey Highlanders in the third qualifying game on Saturday night gave Westfield a perfect record heading into the tourney final. Their magic would end there, however, as they fell to a motivated New Jersey Highlanders team 4-1 in the championship game final, a team they had beaten the previous evening.
In addition to the great experience on the ice, the Westfield Peewee A players and families took part in several other memorable experiences that Lake Placid had to offer including bobsledding, skating on the Olympic Speed-skating Oval, a gondola ride up Whiteface Mountain, tubing down the Olympic ski jump mountain, and dogsled rides around Mirror Lake.
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Division: Squirt A
Saturday, March 3rd – Mullins Center, Amherst
Westfield Jr. Bombers 4 Amherst 1
Westfield traveled to Amherst on Saturday morning to take on the league’s second place team in what they knew would be a hard-fought contest. Play was scrappy from the drop of the first puck and the teams battled throughout the game. Westfield’s Ryan Moorhouse was the first to find the back of the net at 7:24 of the first period to give the Jr. Bombers the early lead. Amherst would strike back though and with just over one minute left in the first they would knot-up the game at 1-1. The second period saw more physical play as the teams fought for control. Near the 9 minute mark, Colin Scanlon hustled after a puck dumped into the offensive zone and forced a bad clearing pass by the Amherst defender. James Ackerman was there to intercept and drove to the net for a shot. The initial shot was stopped by Amherst’s goaltender, but Ackerman jumped on his own rebound to put the puck in the net and give Westfield the 2-1 lead where it would remain after two periods. Amherst came out with a sense of desperation in the 3rd and Westfield seized the opportunity to secure the win. Ackerman struck again on a nifty move at 4:53 for his second goal of the game followed by Matt Bacon at 8:21 who slipped between defenders in front of the net and lifted a beautiful shot over the goalie’s right shoulder for the final tally of the game.
Division: Bantam A
Friday, February 24th – Cape Cod Hurricanes Tournament
Game 1
Westfield Jr. Bombers 8 Worcester Sharks 0
Westfield Bantam A’s took the ice on Friday to take on the Sharks from Worcester. From the drop of the puck, Westfield dominated the game with an 8-0 thrashing of the Sharks. Strong goaltending from Manny Legace and strong defensive play from Ryan “the Train” Bucko led the effort for Westfield. Bucko netted himself 3 goals and an assist. Captain Mike Diamond jumped into the scoring with a goal and an assist. Colan Rock scored his first goal of the season late in the third period with the help of Domenic Ceccarini and Colin Burns who each tallied two assists in the contest. Rounding out the scoring were Tanner Hart and Travis Pirrello who each had a goal and an assist. Luke Murphy, Matt Wurster, and Zach Jarvis also chipped in with an assist apiece.
Division: Bantam A
Saturday, February 25th – Cape Cod Hurricanes Tournament
Game 2
Westfield Jr. Bombers 6 Boston Bandits 3
Westfield took the ice on Saturday night against the Boston Bandits. Both teams came out flying right from the start of the game. Westfield found some great defensive work from Matt Wurster and Zachary Jarvis who both earned themselves an assist in the game. Westfield scored three goals in the first period from Travis Pirrello, Tanner Hart and Mike Diamond. Assists were provided from Jordan Hinds, Ryan Gendron and Luke Murphy. The Bandits came back with a late second period goal and two quick goals to start the third period, knotting the game at 3-3. The play of goaltender Manny Legace help provided a foundation for Westfield to regain control of the game in the third period. Strong play from all three lines allowed Westfield to score three goals in the third period. Luke Murphy, Domenic Ceccarini and defenseman Ryan Bucko scored for Westfield with the help of Travis Pirrello and Jordan Hinds who each had two assists.
Division: Bantam A
Sunday, February 26th – Cape Cod Hurricanes Tournament
Game 3
Westfield Jr. Bombers 5 Natick Comets 2
On very little rest, Westfield took the ice on Sunday morning to play a hard-hitting Natick, MA team. Westfield showed great team play with Jordan Hinds scoring first on assists from Travis Pirrello and Ryan Gendron. On his very next shift, Jordan netted his second goal of the game on a stellar shot from the blue line giving Westfield a 2-0 lead. Strong play from defensemen Jon Strzempek paved the way for the Jr. Bombers in the first. The Comets came back late in the second period scoring goals to knot the game at 2-2. Tanner Hart and Ryan Bucko took over the game in the third for Westfield. Hart netting two third period goals and an assist, Bucko tallied both a goal and an assist. After taking the first three qualifying games, Westfield now moves to the Championship Game against the host team – the Cape Cod Hurricanes.
Division: Bantam A
Sunday, February 26th – Cape Cod Hurricanes Tournament
Championship Game
Westfield Jr. Bombers 3 Cape Cod Hurricanes 2, Shootout
Westfield wins Cape Cod Hurricane Tournament!
Westfield hit the ice Sunday night for the championship game against the host Hurricanes. The game was full of action and hard-hitting from both sides. Westfield jumped out to a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a great pass from Mike Diamond to Tanner Hart whose wrist shot found the back of the net. Both teams battled all the way into the third period when the Hurricanes scored late to tie the game and send it to sudden death overtime.
Westfield kept the play in the Hurricanes end for most of the overtime but could not muster a goal to put the contest away.
The game went into a sudden death shoot-out and the Hurricanes scored on their first shooting attempt. Tanner Hart saved the game for Westfield with some quick hands to sneak the shoot-out tying goal past the Hurricanes netminder. Manny Legace made a great pad save on Cape Cod’s second shot, leaving the heroics up to Westfield’s Zach Jarvis. Jarvis didn’t disappoint. He found the back of the net giving Westfield the shoot-out tournament championship. The Westfield coaches credited the hard work and team play as the catalysts for the championship win.
BANTAM 1 CAPE COD TOURNEY CHAMPS
