Without a Western Mass. and state title to defend, the Greenfield hockey team focused on coming out victorious in each contest it was allowed to compete in this winter.
The Green Wave wrapped their season up Saturday night with a 4-0 win against Ludlow at Collins-Moylan Arena, closing out an unbeaten campaign with a 10-0-1 record.
“Great way to end the season,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “Those six seniors really showed leadership and what it means to play Green Wave hockey [Saturday] night. Going unbeaten is something that’s very difficult to do. I’m proud of the student-athletes and coaching staff and a big thank you to the community for all the help with this season.”
Five of the six seniors recorded points in the win on Senior Night, with Kyle Barnes, Jacob Bryant, Aidan Roche, Derek Lenois and Evan Dubrule all getting into the score sheet in the win. Senior Casey Hoffman had a strong game, recording a big hit late.
Dubrule picked up his first career varsity point on his first ever varsity shift, as MJ Paulin sent a pass to him up ice. He then found Shane Prusak for a score to put the Green Wave up 1-0 just 1:11 into the game.
The goal marked three straight games where Greenfield scored in the opening two minutes of action.
A little less than two minutes later, Barnes found the back of the net, set up beautifully by a backdoor pass from Lenois, with Matt Lavoine also picking up an assist on the play.
The 2-0 lead held into the third period until the 10:50 mark, where Bryant scored on a blast from the top right circle, with assists going to Devin Niles and Roche.
Just 42 seconds later, Barnes redirected a Bryant shot into the net to make it 4-0.
Josh Bordeaux came up with 23 saves in the shutout.
Greenfield closed the season going 20-for-40 on the power play, accounting for 35 percent of its goals.
“It’s very impressive,” Bouchard said. “It shows how much hard work, execution and understanding of the situation went into that side of the game this year. It’s a credit to the seniors who get a lot of those special teams minutes, it shows the underclassmen why they’re so important.”
On Sunday, the Green Wave JV team closed out its season with a 5-0 win over Southwick.
Bouchard said he was proud of the way the program competed all season long, even in a year where there wasn’t any postseason to play for.
“It was a great effort by both teams this season,” Bouchard said. “The entire program is proud of the way the student-athletes continue to work hard through the last second of each game this season, both varsity and JV.”