Longmeadow senior goal tender Omar Natour, right, deflects the shot of Westfield junior forward Connor Sullivan, left, during the first period of Saturday’s game at the Olympia Ice Arena. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WEST SPRINGFIELD – It wasn’t easy but the Westfield Bombers will get a chance to defend their 2012-13 Western Massachusetts Division 3 high school hockey championship.
No. 2 Westfield squeaked out a 4-3 overtime victory over third-seeded Longmeadow in the D3 semifinals Saturday afternoon at the Olympia in West Springfield. The Bombers will take on top-seeded Agawam in Thursday night’s championship game at 8:30 p.m.
“Nothing’s easy,” Westfield coach C.B. “Moose” Matthews said. “It’s playoff hockey. I don’t care what we did before against them.”
Connor Sullivan redirected a shot from Adam Hosmer with 2:30 remaining in overtime for the game-winner. Sullivan finished with two goals, and an assist.
“I was just trying to keep the puck out in front of the net,” Sullivan said. “The game was going back and forth. Every time we got a goal, Longmeadow had an answer.”
Westfield peppered Longmeadow senior goalie Omar Natour midway through the six-minute overtime period. Both teams were deadlocked at 19 shots apiece before the final shot of the day.
“Finally, we put one in that mattered,” Sullivan said.
Westfield cracked the scoreboard first when Mike Santinello scored on a pass from Craig Lacey 14 seconds into the opening period.
Longmeadow swarmed the Westfield net a few minutes later. Lancers’ Connor McCarthy managed to stuff it past Westfield goalie Matt Blascak (19 saves). Drew Kelleher assisted on the play.
Westfield responded with another early goal, in the second period, when Zane Collier and Erik Hosmer set up Sullivan with 13:00 on the clock.
Longmeadow’s Michael Tabb tied the game 2-all when a close shot from the edge of the left circle found the back of the net. McCarthy and Kelleher earned assists.
Westfield had a chance to take a lead into the third period with a breakaway chance, but Natour turned it away. In the final period, the Bombers, in fact, did jump into the driver’s seat, albeit briefly, when Santinello redirected a shot from Connor Sullivan for a goal with 8:35 left in the period. Chris Sullivan also assisted on the play.
Longmeadow wasted little time riding shotgun as Kelleher fired a successful bullet into the goal 39 seconds later. McCarthy and Tabb assisted.
Westfield’s Adam Hosmer rang the post with five minutes left, but the puck clanged harmlessly away.
While the sound of the puck hitting the metal echoed throughout the rink, it was not as loud as the deafening roar of the crowd when Sullivan’s shot sent the Whip City faithful into a frenzy.
