Schools: Wave rally late, ice Drury

Greenfield High School was not prepared to suffer its first defeat of the season Wednesday night.

Despite trailing 1-0 on the road with the minutes ticking away in the third period, the Green Wave dug deep. The visitors scored twice in the final 4 minutes, 16 seconds of regulation, erasing its deficit and staying unbeaten in improbable fashion with a 2-1 victory over Drury High School in a Wright Division hockey game at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in North Adams.

Greenfield improved to 8-0-2 overall, 4-0-2 in the league with the come-from-behind victory.

“It was a very difficult game for the boys to play,” began Greenfield head coach Adam Bouchard. “Long bus ride, lots of penalties, Drury playing a really good game against us. We never really got cranking the way we like to play. They slowed us down. But to watch these boys go through the first two periods the way they did then overcome that difficulty late, they never quit. It’s their worker mentality. These guys put their heads down and got to work. That’s the character of this team right now.”

Drury led 1-0 thanks to a second-period goal from Corbin Rumbolt. It stayed that way until late in the third, when Greenfield earned a 5-on-3 power play with 4:19 remaining. Just three seconds into the two-man advantage, Doug Hanieski tied the game off an assist from Kyle Baumann.

Still with a man-advantage situation following the tying goal, the Wave struck again for the game-winner. Off a faceoff win with 2:47 remaining, Baumann put a shot on net. Hanieski pounced on the rebound and fed Kyle Barnes, who found the back of the net to give Greenfield a 2-1 advantage that it would ultimately secure.

“To see the guys raise their level of play on those late power plays was great to see,” Bouchard said.

Riley Drew recorded 20 saves in net for Greenfield, which held a 35-21 edge in shots on goal.

“Drury had a good game plan,” Bouchard said. “They stuck to it. We got lots of shots on net but we didn’t really get any quality scoring opportunities until those last few minutes.”

Greenfield was able to stay in position to win the game late thanks to the play of its penalty-killing units. Drury went on the power play seven times in the game, including multiple 5-on-3 opportunities, but the Blue Devils (4-4-2, 2-3-1) were unable to sneak one past Drew during a man-advantage situation.

“The penalty kill effort was awesome,” said Bouchard. “It really kept us in the game. That shows you something about your kids.”

Kevin Baumann’s two assists were a continuation of what has been a strong run of play in recent games for the freshman defenseman.

“He’s kind of worked his way up into the power play and penalty kill as a freshman,” said Bouchard of Baumann. “To see him step in like that has been something to watch.”

Greenfield returns home Saturday night for an independent game against Gardner, set for 6:30 p.m. at Collins-Moylan Arena.

Wrestling

Mahar 54, Smith Voke 30 — Henry Ndayisaba, Todd Chiasson and Peter Tattan also scored victories on the mats, and host Mahar won a plethora of matches via forfeit en route to a 54-30 independent win over Smith Voke Wednesday in Orange.

Ndayisaba earned a pin at 152 pounds, while Chiasson pinned his opponent at 160 pounds and Tattan also scored a pin at 170 pounds for the Senators (9-1).

Picking up six points thanks to forfeits were Domanic Cacciolfi (106), Jon Mahony (113), Sam DeJackome (120), Luke Chiodo (126), Justin DeDiego (138) and Adam Clement (145).

Gateway 54, Mohawk 21 — Quinton Romer earned a first-period pin, but visiting Mohawk was unable to hang with Gateway in a 54-21 Tri-County League loss Wednesday night in Huntington.

Romer pinned Gateway’s Nico Paulson at 160 pounds in 1:11 for the Warriors (1-8-1, 1-2).

Mohawk’s Dylan Wooldridge earned a 6-3 decision at 170 pounds over Gateway’s Tim Basak.

Will VanVleet (220) and Lillian VanVleet (145) each nabbed victories via forfeitures.

Frontier 54, South Hadley 23 — Nate Austin and Jackie Phong notched pins to help Frontier knock off South Hadley, 54-23, in an independent wrestling match Wednesday.

Austin pinned Noah Will at 220 pounds in 2:13 and Phong captured a pin over Douglas Aiolupotea at 285 pounds in 2:19.

Frontier’s Ito McMillan scored a 17-2 technical fall over South Hadley’s Jody Solzak at 145 pounds, and fellow Red Hawk Eric Trueswell won a 16-6 major decision over Matt Mayer at 160 pounds.

Leominster 45, Athol 30 — Joe Gray earned a pin in just 24 seconds at 170 pounds, but Athol dropped a 45-30 independent match to Leominster Wednesday night on the road.

Chris Waslaske moved up to 195 pounds, and picked up a third-period pin for the Red Raiders. John Hicks also earned a second-period pin at 182 pounds.

Greenfield 2, Drury 1

Goals: (G) Hanieski, Barnes. (D) Rumbolt.

Assists: (G) K. Baumann 2, Hanieski. (D) Ellingwood.

Shots: Greenfield 35. Drury 21.

Saves: (G) Drew 20. (D) Haley 33.