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The Longmeadow High School hockey team celebrates its second Western Massachusetts sectional championship in three years on March 8. Reminder Publications photo by Chris Maza
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March 12, 2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.com
WEST SPRINGFIELD — It was a seemingly insurmountable deficit; an unscalable wall separating them from the Promised Land.
As Westfield took a 3-0 lead early in the second period of the Western Massachusetts Division III championship game, it looked like Longmeadow would once again watch the Bombers celebrate a title in front of them.
It seemed that way to everyone. Everyone but the Lancers, that is.
Top-seeded Longmeadow came storming back with five unanswered goals and shocked No. 3 Westfield, 5-3, to win the sectional title and punch a ticket to the Division III state semifinal.
"We were just trying to stay positive." Longmeadow senior captain Glenn LaFountain said. "Our shots were even. We were playing an even game; they just got a few breaks. We knew we could come out and beat that team and that's exactly what we did."
The Lancers will play the winner of the Central Massachusetts Division III championship game between Hudson and Wachusett to be decided on March 12.
LaFountain buried what proved to be the game-winning goal with six minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the contest after Andrew Hadley fed him a pass in front of the crease.
"It was a perfect pass from Andrew Hadley. He had it on the net," he said. "We were cycling it very well and he fed me that perfect pass and I just took a shot five-hole."
Longmeadow fell behind very early in the game when Westfield's Anthony Cagliostro netted the game's first goal two minutes into the action, backhanding a pass from Kyle Levere into the net.
The Bombers then extended their lead when another Westfield forward was left unaccounted for in front of the net. Sean Spohr set himself up at the bottom of the slot and potted the goal on Nick Sibilia's feed to bring the score to 2-0 with 5:44 remaining in the first period.
Westfield continued rolling, carrying with the momentum into the next period when Conner Laraway beat Longmeadow goalie Tommy McCarthy to boost the advantage to 3-0 just over a minute into the second.
Then the tables started to turn. Longmeadow killed off an important power play and responded with its first goal of the game as freshman Charlie Kelleher beat Westfield goalkeeper Matt Blascak glove side, moving the score to 3-1 and sparking a series of three goals in a 10-minute span for the Lancers.
"We never lost confidence," Kelleher, the team's leading scorer this season, said. "When we got down 3-0, we knew what we had to do. We had to take it one goal at a time."
Conor McCarthy netted the Lancers' second goal after receiving a pass from behind the net from Owen Kelleher.
The momentum swung all the way back to the Lancers at the end of the period, when Cormac Kennedy slid the puck into the net after Blascak couldn't control the rebound on Charlie Kelleher's shot from the circle with just eight seconds remaining in the second period.
After LaFountain scored his decisive goal, Brett Rabideau added an insurance marker on the power play with 1:16 remaining in the game.
As Longmeadow was firing pucks into the net in the latter half of the game, McCarthy stood tall in net for the Lancers, making several key saves down the stretch to seal the victory.
"Tommy's saved us the whole season," LaFountain said. "In those second and third periods, and even the first period, he was making some unbelievable saves. He won us that game for sure."
While still unsure of their opponent in the state semifinal, the Lancers are confident heading into the showdown at the MassMutual Center on March 15 at 6 p.m.
"Hudson and Wachusett are two tough teams that we've lost to this season, but come playoff time I think we can step it up," LaFountain said. "You never know what can happen in playoffs.
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