WESTFIELD – A pair of quick-striking goals lifted the Greenfield hockey team to another victory Wednesday night.
Matt Garvin tallied just 58 seconds into the opening period, and Sammy Knight buried one a mere 14 seconds into the third stanza to help the Green Wave edge Southwick, 4-2, in a Wright Division contest at Amelia Park Arena.
It was a far cry from the first meeting between the two teams – a 6-0 Greenfield win on Jan. 8.
“We knew it was going to be a different Southwick team from the first time around,” admitted Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard.
Leading 2-0 after Knight’s goal, the Rams (4-9) answered quickly in the third. John Lacey cut the deficit in half just 1 minute, 30 seconds later to make it a 2-1 game, setting up a frantic final period.
“Going up 2-0, that’s what you’re looking for but we knew the game was far from over,” Bouchard explained. “You strive to play from ahead, which we were able to do, but 1-0, 2-0 aren’t comfortable leads especially in high school hockey.”
Trevor Kuchieski finally gave the visiting fans a chance to breathe with 5:42 left in regulation, when he pounced on a loose puck and deposited it into an open net for a 3-1 cushion.
Southwick didn’t go away however, and Trent Viamari put home a rebound with just 1:35 left to pull the Rams back to 3-2.
But Knight notched his second with 54 seconds left, an empty net tally, to salt it away.
Kuchieski, Knight, Shane Prusak (three) and RJ Grondin had assists for Greenfield.
“We’ve been playing pretty good here ourselves of late, and that all starts with good leadership in the locker room,” Bouchard said.
Goalie Josh Bordeaux finished with 15 saves in what was another stellar outing between the pipes. He made some of his biggest saves in the second period when the Wave clung to just a 1-0 lead.
Greenfield (8-3-2), which hasn’t lost in nearly a month (a 5-0-2 streak), returns to the ice Saturday with a home game against Belchertown (6:30 p.m.).
“From how we started, losing the first game of the season – which is something we haven’t done in awhile here – it shows the type of team we have here to get to where we are now,” said Bouchard.