WESTFIELD – The St. Mary High School ice hockey team improved to 3-2 with a solid 6-2 win over Easthampton Saturday.
St. Mary dominated most of the first two periods of play with strong puck possession. The Saints were able to score six goals in the first 30 minutes of play with 10 different players finding their name on the score sheet.
“We have a deep team that when they work together can be effective on both ends of the ice,” St. Mary coach Don Goodreau said. “You could see it in passing tonight.”
The first goal was scored by senior Jared Rogers (Westfield) on a beautiful passing combination from junior Matt Wurster (Southwick) and senior Charlie White (Southwick). Then with only 1:51 left in the period junior Budda Spear (Westfield) received an excellent pass from Wurster to beat the Easthampton goalie to give the Saints the 2-0 lead at the first break.
Saint Mary’s was far from satisfied going into the middle frame.
The first 10 minutes of the period, St. Mary peppered the Eagles’ goalie but could not get anything to find the back of the net. However, in less than three minutes, the Saints would tally four goals.
Spear was able to give St. Mary a 3-0 lead, this time with a pass from White. Shortly after that, senior Dominic Ceccarini (Westfield) netted another goal with eighth grader Liam Webster (Westfield) getting the assist. Then in a span of 16 seconds, the Saints found the back of the net twice. The first was by sophomore Rielly Siart (Westfield) on a pass from Spear. The second was a goal by sophomore Shaun Gezotis (Westfield) on a combination from senior Ashton Bourbonnais (Southwick) and junior Colan Rock (Suffield, Conn.).
Saint Mary’s led at the end of the second period 6-0.
The third period, however, saw Easthampton take advantage of penalties. The Eagles were able to net two goals in the third by junior Jake Thorton (Northampton). In the end, Saints freshman goalie Matt Brady (Westfield) had 25 saves on 27 shots to earn his third win of the season.
The coach was pleased overall with the Saints play, but also admitted there are areas to work on.
“We played some of our best hockey of the season for the first two periods,” Goodreau said. “Our boys controlled the pace of the game and had many opportunities. We let our emotions get the best of us in the third period and we have to do a better job. Take away the last 15 minutes. I was very proud of our effort.”
The Saints will travel on Mon., Dec. 29 to play Mt. Everett at 2 p.m.
