Eagles Edge McCann Tech in Western Mass Final

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A magical season for the McCann Tech hockey team did not come to an end on Thursday night at the Olympia Ice Arena.

 

But you can't blame the Hornets for feeling like it did.

 

Easthampton scored twice at the start of the third period to take a two-goal lead and held on for a 4-3 win over the Hornets in the championship game of the Western Massachusetts Class B Tournament.

 

Dallas Ritcher scored twice, and Ben Harris made 32 saves for McCann Tech, which narrowly missed its bid for a second of four titles it can take this season.

 

The Hornets already won their league with an undefeated regular season. On Saturday at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink, they will go for a State Vocational Championship. And next week they will open play in the Division 4 State Tournament.

 

But Western Mass is a major goal and, for this year, a major disappointment.

 

“They put their opportunities in,” McCann Tech coach Matt Parise said. “We didn’t put ours in. I guess it’s as simple as that.

 

“To go from the basement [in 2024-25] to the penthouse – this year was a big thing for us, big steps. I just really wanted it for the seniors.”

 

McCann Tech went toe-to-toe with the Eagles through two periods on Thursday night.

 

Easthampton struck first when Parker Christy set up Max Scribner with a pass from behind the goal, and Scribner finished in the fourth minute of play to give the No. 2 seed a 1-0 lead.

 

It stayed that way until the closing minute of the period, when Nolan Booth gave the McCann Tech fans something to yell about with a goal from the left point, assisted by Hayden Bona, to tie things up with 18 seconds left until the first intermission.

 

The Hornets carried that momentum into the second period.

 

After killing off an early Easthampton power play opportunity, Ritcher won the puck in the Eagles’ zone and took advantage, scoring an unassisted goal to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead.

 

This time, it was Easthampton’s turn to get the late equalizer. Jamie Parrish did the honors from the left-wing faceoff dot to even the score.

 

After giving up three man-up opportunities, the Hornets finally got one of their own in the final minute of the period and started the third with 1 minute, 8 seconds of power play time remaining.

 

“We put a little play together [in the locker room] to start off with it, to see if we could at least get in the zone and create something,” Parise said. “Their penalty kill is very aggressive and fast, and that kind of wreaked havoc on us, how quick they were.

 

“I was just hoping we’d get a couple of good looks. And we didn’t. We moved the puck around well. We just weren’t getting the shots on the goalie.”

 

After getting back to even strength, the Eagles scored two goals in a two-minute span. First, Wyatt Hunter put back a rebound to give the Eagles their second lead of the game, and then Jimmy Bresnahan lit the lamp to give them the first two-goal lead of the night at 4-2.

 

Just like that, it looked like McCann Tech’s hopes for the program’s first Western Mass title were dead in the water.

 

But the Hornets had other ideas.

 

After a timeout midway through the period, Booth and Kayeb Monson set up Ritcher for his second goal, a laser from just inside the blue line, to make it 4-3 with 2:17 left to play.

 

And the Hornets turned up the pressure when Harris was pulled with about a minute left, leading to a try by Gabe Lescarbeau from deep on the left wing that was deflected up and into the netting with 4.5 seconds left.

 

The Hornets could not control the ensuing draw, and the Eagles were able to clear the zone as the final horn sounded.

 

Afterward, Parise talked about his seniors, especially Ritcher and captain and defenseman Brayden Canales.

 

“You put a lot into these kids, building them up, making them realize their potential,” Parise said. “And you just want to see them succeed. They’ve been through some hard years, just like I have – three or four hard years. And I want them to understand: Look at where you came from.

 

“We were a two-, three-win team. And here we went undefeated in the league and got to this game. And while it does suck to lose, there’s always a loser and always a winner. Someone’s always got to wear that.”

 

Photos from this game to come.