PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Wahconah hockey team on Wednesday jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes against Taconic and never looked back.
Then again, neither did Taconic.
Andrew Beaudoin scored two goals and added an assist to lead Wahconah to a 7-3 win in the first meeting of the Berkshire County rivals.
But after giving up that early flurry of goals, Taconic refused to get down.
“They didn’t panic,” Taconic coach Steve Terpak said. “Our guys were poised. I like what they’re doing. It was just one of those nights when we didn’t have our hands.
“But we’ll get it.”
Several different players showed good hands for Wahconah (1-1), especially in the first period, which ended in a 4-1 lead for the visitors.
Vinnie Orlandi got things started with a shot from about four feet inside the blue line that snuck past Taconic goalie Mike Schnopp (22 saves) just 58 seconds into the game.
About three minutes later, Mike Moreno scored with help from Brett Pecor and Jeff Hancock. And less than a minute after that, Andrew Beaudoin got an unassisted goal to make it 3-0 with 10:21 left in the first period.
“They had a goalie who hasn’t played in a few years, and we knew that,” Wahconah coach Don Disbrow said. “We knew he’s a helluva athlete. A lot of these kids grew up playing with him, so they know who he is and what he’s capable of.
“I know he can be an excellent goalie. We wanted to test him early and get people in front of him to see how rusty or how in-tune he was. I think we got some lucky breaks there. I think it could have been a 2-1 period. I think in terms of play, it was a lot closer than that 4-1 score.”
It was 3-1 when Brandan Peaslee scored on the rebound of a Harrison Rapant shot midway through the period.
But Beaudoin scored his second straight moments later, this time using assists from Nate Lapine (two assists) and Dan Flynn.
Wahconah again got an early goal to start the second. Orlandi again did the honors to make it a 5-1 game.
But Taconic again had an answer. Andy Cella scored with assists from Kevin Quinto and Joe Puia to again get within three goals at intermission.
But two more goals for Wahconah by the middle of the third period put the game out of reach. First Eddie Laird converted a rebound off a Flynn shot on a 2-on-1 rush. Then Moreno converted on Wahconah’s fourth power play opportunity of the night to make it 7-2 with 6:37 on the clock.
Brian Henault set up Quinto to beat Nico Romano (22 saves) with 4:31 left to finish the scoring.
These two teams definitely are not finished with one another. They will meet two more times this winter -- at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink in North Adams on Jan 17 and at Williams College nine days later.
After Wednesday’s game, each coach said his team has things to work on, but Disbrow is happy with how Wahconah compares to where it was a year ago at this time -- before going on a run to a Western Mass title.
“In terms of our systems and playing together and knowing what we have to do and interacting with each other, I think we’re a third of the way into the season, or more, compared to last year,” he said. “We’re that far ahead. A lot of these kids grew up last year. We had a bad start to the season first half and were able to turn things around. I think that’s carrying over here.
“Every team is going to have sloppy play. We have a lot of things to clean up. And I told them after the game, every time we go out, whether it’s a scrimmage, game or meeting, you want to get better and learn something new. It’s a season-long thing.”
Wahconah plays its home opener on Friday in North Adams against Agawam. Taconic travels to the Chicopee Tournament Dec. 26-27.
More photos of this game here.
