Vinny Orlandi scored out of a scramble in front of the net with 1 minute, 25 seconds to play and Wahconah Regional High School got past Turners Falls High School, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Rabbit Graves Memorial Tournament Friday night at Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield.
The game was tied at 3-3 until Orlandi found the puck in a scramble and poked it past Turners Falls goalie Jordyn Lavallee (18 saves) for the eventual game-winner. Kyle Gazillo picked up an assist on the goal.
Wahconah took a 2-0 lead in the first period when Kyle Bazonski scored with 6:25 left on assists from Colby Ellingwood and Isaac Pinello. Two minutes later Pinello made it 2-0 off an assist from Josh Pettit. The Indians got one back late in the first period when Camden Barnes scored his first career varsity goal on assists from Ethan LaFleur and Cassidhe Wozniak.
Turners Falls (0-2) tied the game with the only goal of the second period as Doug Hanieski scored on the power play with 3:03 left in the period on an assist from Bryan Baumann.
Wahconah retook the lead 5 minutes into the third period when Hoby Macwhinnie scored from Ellingwood and Orlandi, but the Indians came back to tie it up one minute later as Mason Whiteman scored on assists from Baumann and Hanieski. While the Warriors got the late goal to earn the win, Turners Falls coach Darren Lenois was pleased to see his team’s improvement from the first game.
“We were much-improved and got a huge effort out of the kids,” he said. “You could see the stuff we’ve been working on in practice carry over into the game. We looked like a much different team.”
The Inidans outshot the Warriors, 28-22. Corey Rallender stopped 25 shots to earn the win.
The Warriors advance to today’s championship game at 7:30, while Turners Falls will play in the consolation game at 5:30.
Due to impending winter weather, both games could be postponed.
Greenfield lost to Mt Everett Regional School 5-4 in a shootout. The game finished at deadline. See box score for details.