WEST SPRINGFIELD — The scoring came early and often at Olympia Ice Center on Saturday as the Greenfield and Westfield hockey teams battled it out for the PVIAC Class A championship. 

Both teams lit up the scoreboard twice in the opening 15 minutes before the second-seeded Bombers took a 4-3 lead going into the third. 

Top-seeded Greenfield was unable to pull off a comeback in the third, as Westfield extended its lead to two goals early in the frame before tacking on a pair of goals midway through the period. That allowed the Bombers to take home the championship with a 7-3 victory. 

It’s the second Class A title in a row for Westfield (13-4-3). 

“I’m extremely proud to be part of the Green Wave hockey program,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “We were the regular season champions in our first year in the Berry Division. We came in and showed we do belong here. A 7-3 loss here in the Class A finals but Westfield played a phenomenal game.”

It appeared the game-tying goal was only a matter of time for the Green Wave (12-8-1) based on how the third period started. 

Greenfield was all over the Bombers, keeping the puck in the Westfield end and peppering Westfield goalie Evan Mastroianni with shots, but none made it to the back of the net. 

With 10:22 to go, the Bombers made a play to take back control of the game. 

Westfield’s Joe Maffia — who finished the game with two goals and four assists — drove to the net and sent a pass back to Cody Bard, who blasted in a shot from the point to give the Bombers a 5-3 lead. 

“We were down by one goal going into the third period and were outshooting them 9-1 in the period,” Bouchard said. “Mastroianni stood on his face down there. Unbelievable job by him. We just couldn’t find the back of the net. A bounce comes their way and we’re down by two.”

Penalties hurt the Green Wave from there. Greenfield took a penalty with just over seven minutes to go and 1:14 into the power play, Bard buried a shot that gave Westfield a 6-3 lead. 

Just after the Green Wave killed a second penalty, Maffia took it coast-to-coast and buried a shot top shelf with 3:45 to go to ice the win. 

“The clock is ticking and we have to take some chances,” Bouchard said. “That gave them a chance to capitalize and they capitalized on their opportunities. We just didn’t [capitalize] on the chances we had early in the third period.”

Both the Green Wave and the Bombers were flying offensively to open the game. 

It took Greenfield’s Jake Jurek all of 1 minute, 28 seconds to get the Wave on the board, taking it coast-to-coast before slipping a shot past Mastroianni to give Greenfield the opening lead of the game. 

The Bombers answered with 7:33 to go in the period, as Maffia slid a pass to Nick Lacomb, who buried the shot to tie the score. 

Westfield took the lead with 2:55 to go in the period, as Maffia once again fired a pass across the crease that Lacomb was able to tip home to put the Bombers on top. 

Greenfield’s Luca Siano gave Greenfield momentum going into the intermission. Shawn Beckwith dug out a puck in the corner, drove to the net and fired a pass across the goal to Siano, who put it into the back of the net to tie thing at two with 59 seconds to go in the frame. 

The scoring continued in the second. 

Westfield went on the power play midway through the period and just after Greenfield took a second penalty and Mastroianni was vacating the net, Maffia slid a pass to Rick Moritko at the point who blasted a shot through traffic and in to give the Bombers the lead. 

Greenfield tied things up at three with 3:42 left in the period. After an icing whistle on Westfield, Greenfield won the faceoff and Siano found Beckwith in the slot. Beckwith whistled one into the goal to tie things up. 

Maffia made sure Westfield entered the third with the lead. With 2:26 to go in the period, he took the puck up the ice himself, put a move on in front of goal and buried the shot to give the Bombers their 4-3 lead going into the final 15 minutes of action. 

Greenfield’s Cooper Smith finished with 32 saves while Mastroianni made 30 saves for the Bombers. 

The Green Wave’s season isn't over yet. Greenfield earned the No. 17 seed in the MIAA Div. 4 tournament and will take on No. 16 Sandwich in the Round of 32 at a date and time to be determined. 

“We can be extremely proud of ending up 17th in the rankings which is the highest we’ve ever been since they went to the bracket format,” Bouchard said. “Putting together the hardest schedule we’ve had, why we did that was to get the best position in states and be playoff ready. I do this this program is ready to for that.

“We’re fortunate,” Bouchard added. “Not every program gets to keep playing after today but we do. I’m sure it’ll be a sad bus ride home today and the emotions were flowing in that locker room. The great thing about high school hockey is it’s something we all love but in every game — especially high pressure, championship atmospheres like today — somebody goes home the victor and someone goes home the loser. We happen to be on the latter side of that. I’m extremely proud to be part of this team and this community. We’ve done some amazing things and now our next thing is to do something we’ve never done which is get through the Round of 32 and make a little run here.”