WEST SPRINGFIELD — You don’t accidently win back-to-back Western Mass. titles.
It takes hard work in the offseason, hard work throughout the season, belief and players putting the team above everything else. The Greenfield hockey team epitomizes those qualities, and when it came time to dig deep and find another level, the team rose to the occasion.
The Green Wave never trailed in the Western Mass. Class B finals against Chicopee on Thursday at the Olympia Ice Center, and after a Matt Garvin goal that put Greenfield ahead 4-3 with 12:14 to play in the third period, it looked like the Green Wave would be able to hold on and secure their second straight Western Mass. title.
Chicopee’s Trevor Seidell-Poirier had other plans. The senior scored his fourth goal of the game with 2:10 to go off a faceoff, tying the contest 4-4 and giving the Pacers late momentum.
Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard used a timeout after the Pacer goal. The Green Wave regrouped and talked about how all the work they’ve put in through the season was for moments just like this.
“We talked about how bad we wanted this win,” junior Sammy Knight said. “What it really comes down to is finding another level inside you to bring your game to another level and keep pushing.”
Just after the timeout, Chicopee snagged possession and tossed a puck into the Greenfield zone. Captain MJ Paulin collected the puck, saw Knight breaking toward the Chicopee zone and zipped a pass up the ice.
“I saw Chicopee chip it in and it felt like it was sitting in the air for a good 15 seconds,” Paulin said. “It felt like forever. I caught it, dropped it right to my stick and saw Sammy Knight at the far blue line. I gave him a pass as far as I could and he got it.”
Knight collected the puck on his stick, drove in and was hooked by a Pacer defender. He fought through the contact and sent a backhanded shot in that found its way into the back of the net, giving the Green Wave a 5-4 lead with just 1:39 to play.
“I remember the pass coming up,” Knight said. “It was a beautiful pass. We’ve been working on it all year and finally connected on it. I wheeled down, someone told me I was getting hooked or slashed but I backhanded it and found the back of the net somehow.”
The work wasn’t done there, as Chicopee had proven able to dig out of deficits throughout the postseason.
The Pacers overcame a 2-0 hole against Chicopee Comp in the semifinals to eventually put out a double overtime victory, and on Thursday, once again found themselves in a 2-0 deficit against the Green Wave at the end of the first period. Chicopee found ways to answer every Greenfield goal after, and Seidell-Poirier had the skills to put the puck in the net at any moment.
Like they did to score the late goal, the Green Wave found a different gear in those final minutes. They ended up having to kill a penalty but didn’t allow the Pacers to find the back of the net, hanging on for a 5-4 victory.
“There’s no words to describe it,” Knight said of his goal. “It’s an incredible feeling. Immediately it’s back to focus and keeping pucks out of the net. Now that the game’s over, it’s time to celebrate.”
After the win, Greenfield was able to reflect on how going the extra mile in practices paid off in the end.
“When we called the timeout we were really trying to regroup ourselves,” Paulin said. “We were trying to get our energy back. We were getting a little winded. Every practice we skate as hard as possible. Whether that’s drills or anything that has to do with skating, we skate hard. We do a ladder drill that I don’t think any other team does. It’s extremely hard. Our coaches’ biggest thing is we won’t be the weaker team in the third period and it showed today.”
Bouchard couldn’t have been more proud of his team after the game.
”Big love and kudos to all the student athletes in the Green Wave locker room and to all the Green Wave student athletes that played in the past,” Bouchard said. “This is why we climb the ladder. This is why we have no puck Monday’s. To be able to come out in the third period when it’s 4-4 and three minutes left in the game and be able to pick up the intensity and get over the adversity, it’s clear the guys in the locker room have prepared themselves for that opportunity.”
For juniors like Knight, winning in the postseason is all he knows. While there was no tournament a year ago due to COVID-19, the Green Wave won the Western Mass. tournament in the 2019-20 season and went on to capture the MIAA Div. 3A state title as well.
Still unbeaten in postseason play during his varsity career, Knight is hoping Greenfield can keep its postseason magic going in the state tournament, which begins next week.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment for us as a team,” Knight said. “Since being a freshman, we’ve been winning playoff games. I haven’t really had that experience of losing and I don’t ever want to have that experience because it’s an incredible feeling winning.”