WESTFIELD – The St. Mary High School hockey team got a do-over.
After suffering a four-goal loss in its season opener Friday night, St. Mary stunned seventh-ranked Chicopee 6-3 Saturday night at Fitzpatrick Ice Arena in Holyoke.
It was bit of déjà vu early on though for St. Mary as the Saints found themselves down quickly again, and in the penalty box. But a rally was in the cards.
Facing a 3-on-5 situation the Saints were able to rally, Shaun Gezotis was able to spring the puck loose to go one-on-one with the goalie and squeeze a shot past the net minder to tie the game at 1-all.
When asked about Gezotis’s goal, St. Mary head coach Don Goodreau stated. “I would expect nothing less. That kid is Charlie Hustle. He really set the tone for us with that goal.”
Saint Mary was able to get a second goal from Dominic Ceccerarini to close out the period with a 2-1 lead.
In the second period, the Saints were able to maintain the momentum by netting two more goals, one from Jared Rogers assisted by Reiley Siart and then a second from Siart (Johnathan Spear assist).
Said Goodreau: “Siart had a great game. We moved him up to the first line and it really paid off for us.”
St. Mary closed out the game with a strong defensive presence in the third period.
The team blocked 11 shots in the third period alone and 24 for the game.
When asked about the blocked shots, coach Goodreau said, “It was part of our game plan. We knew they were a strong offensive team and we needed to get players in their shooting lanes and keep the puck outside to help Matt Brady in net.”
“We knew we needed to keep Longtin off the scoreboard as much as possible,” said Andrew Booth (Westfield). “We knew we needed to keep Longtin off the scoreboard as much as possible. He is a great player and was named to the ‘Super 7’ list. This is just a great confidence builder for our team and our goalie (Matt Brady).”
Brady was very humble about the win, instead focusing the attention toward his teammates.
“I just tried to put myself in position to stop pucks but the guys in front of me did the hard work of keeping the shots outside,” said Brady, who saved 40 of 44 shots to collect his first high school victory.
“This was the start of our season today,” coach Goodreau said. “Today was the true Saint Mary’s team we expected at the beginning of the year. We need to build off this and continue to work to get better.”
Notes: Jared Rogers led the team with six blocks which was a key part of the strategy for the Saints … The Saints move to 1-1 on the season. Their next game is Tuesday, December 16 at Amelia Park at 8 p.m. It is a rematch of today’s game with Chicopee High.
Cathedral’s Madison Pelletier, of Westfield splits the defense against Auburn in a girls’ ice hockey game Saturday at Cyr Arena. (Submitted photo)
GIRLS’ ICE HOCKEY
Cathedral (Westfield Co-Op) 5, Auburn 4
The Cathedral-Westfield-Longmeadow Co-Op defeated Auburn in its season opener in great fashion.
Brenna Hoar and Madison Pelletier scored two goals apiece, and Jill Beaulieu tallied one. Mackenzie Pelletier and Kyra Ashe were credited with assists.
Cathedral goalie Lexi Levere (Westfield) finished with 37 saves.
