Greenfield High School has been getting plenty of chances to score this season. The prevasiling issue has been finishing off those chances with goals.
Such was the case again Monday evening, when the Green Wave outshot St. Mary’s Parish School 31-26 but could only put two of those shots in the back of the net during a 3-2 Fay-Wright Division hockey loss to the Saints at Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield.
The Saints (2-1-1 overall, 1-1-0 Fay-Wright) took their only lead of the game with 43 seconds left in regulation when Shaun Gezotis fired a hard snap shot that Greenfield goaltender Riley Drew stopped with his blocker, but Aaron Blanchard crashed the net for a rebound and one-timed it into the top shelf for the eventual game-winner.
Greenfield won the ensuing faceoff and head coach Adam Bouchard was able to pull Drew for a sixth attacker with 35 seconds left. Bouchard said the Wave had three quality scoring opportunities in that span, including Tyler Townsley’s one-timer from point-blank range, but St. Mary’s goalie Matt Brady was able to reject every attempt.
It was just one of those games where we had all the chances in the world but just couldn’t put it home,” said Bouchard of his squad, which couldn’t score despite 12 shots in the third period. “We’re creating plenty of opportunities, but we have to bury those chances.”
Greenfield took the initial lead 5:28 into the opening frame. Evan Simmons broke in on a breakaway, and he was able to fake Brady as he charged out of the net. Simmons missed the initial shot, but got the rebound and passed it to Townsley in the slot, and Townsley fired it home for his ninth goal of the young campaign.
Gezotis tied up with 41 seconds left in the stanza when Sam LaBombard sent a pass to Gezotis in the slot near the left faceoff circle, and Gezotis proceeded fire a low wrist shot that beat Drew to the glove side.
Both teams took advantage of power plays to score in the middle period.
The Green Wave notched theirs at 2:01 to take a 2-1 lead. Simmons sent puck from the right wing boards to Townsley on opposite side below the goal line. Townsley then spotted Harris creeping down the slot and slid a pass to him, and Harris quickly fired a low wrist shot that beat Brady low to the blocker side for his fourth tally of the year.
Simmons upped his league-leading point total to 19 (5 goals, 14 assists) with the helper.
The Saints were able to tie it on the mad advantage at 6:37 when Gezotis received a pass from Aaron Blanchard in the slot and snapped a low wrist shot past Drew’s glove side. to even it up at 2.
“After that (goal), we dominated play and had like eight or nine shots, five of them quality, but Brady stood on his head,” lamented Bouchard. “We were snakebitten most of the night. We had a tough time getting (the puck) past him.”
Bouchard noted that Sean O’Sullivan made his season debut after recovering from a back injury.
Greenfield (3-2-1, 1-2-0 Fay-Wright) travels to the Mullins Center practice rink in Amherst Friday night to face Belchertown High School at 7:30.