GREENFIELD — A Shawn Baumann goal with two minutes, 15 seconds left in overtime gave the Greenfield hockey team a 2-1 win over West Springfield at Collins-Moylan on Monday afternoon.
“This was a good team effort,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “A good team win. We just pulled it out.”
In overtime, Jack Laurie let go of a shot near the blue line. Baumann was there for the deflection to give Greenfield the victory. Laurie and Luca Siano assisted on the goal.
“It got dumped in and were able to get it back to our defense,” Baumann said. “Jack (Laurie) gave a nice, hard shot on the ice toward the net and I tipped it with the backhand of my stick and it went in.”
A third period goal by West Springfield’s Jack Reed sent the game into overtime. After sprawling to make a save on a previous attempt, Ben Johnston went to retrieve his lost stick. After a strange bounce in front of the net, Reed swept it in to tie the game.
The Green Wave dominated the extra session, outshooting the Terriers 4-0. It’s only the second time in the last five years that the Wave secured a win over the Terriers. Greenfield tied with West Springfield earlier this season.
“What we did best in the overtime is come together as a team,” Baumann said. “The first three periods of the game were pretty sloppy with our forecheck. We were able to pick it up. The mood of the team is ecstatic, especially with the victories starting to mount.
“Everyone is just way more happy in the locker room,” Baumann said. “The team is getting to where we want to be.”
Greenfield dealt with some injuries during the game, but other players stepped up playing in different places.
“There’s a lot of adversity out there for the Green Wave student-athletes today,” Bouchard said. “We have a couple injuries, a couple players go down. We had to switch around the lineup.”
There were reminders before the overtime about practices without pucks.
“It’s why we do those team bonding experiences,” Bouchard said. “So we know that we can stay hard for 45 minutes or longer in game. It proved out in that overtime. That play worked properly. It was adversity and finding a way to win. We truly believe that good teams find a way to win.”
Nolan Kalinowski scored an exquisite goal in the second period for the Green Wave. While charging toward West Springfield goalie Rylan Hurt, Kalinowski slipped it five-hole to give Greenfield a 1-0 lead with 3:22 left in the second period. Nicholas Constantine assisted on Kalinowski’s goal.
Johnston was once against brilliant in net for the Green Wave, making 25 saves.
“Ben Johnston stood on his head,” Bouchard said. “Especially in that third period.”
There were few offensive opportunities in the first period for either team. The Green Wave offense got going in the second period. Chase Zraunig dinged the post two minutes into the second frame. Nico Siano then had a nice attempt on a wraparound attempt. Shawn Beckwith missed on a breakaway attempt later in the period before Kalinowski scored.
Greenfield is back on the ice on Wednesday night against Westfield. Puck drop is set for 7:45 at Amelia Park Arena.