Polastri's Game-Winner Lifts Taconic Past Wahconah

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Ryan Polastri scored to break a 3-3 tie in the third period and lift the Taconic hockey team to a 4-3 win over Wahconah on Wednesday night at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink.

 

Taconic gave up a 3-1 lead in a rough second period that saw Wahconah get five power-play chances, including a major penalty.

 

But coach Jeff Daury’s team went to the sin bin just once in the third period and even earned its first man-up chance in the game’s final minute.

 

“We really settled down in the third period, which was really nice to see,” Daury said. “Obviously, we had a pretty good conversation with the kids [at intermission] to challenge them to play with discipline and do things the right way. And I think they did a nice job of that, which was pretty cool.

 

“When we play good, solid, disciplined hockey, I think we’re a pretty good hockey team. But you can’t parade to the box. So we challenged them to do exactly that: Play with discipline. That doesn’t mean you don’t play hard, but you’ve got to play with discipline.”

 

Brandon Peaslee scored two goals and assisted on Polastri’s game-winner, and Aiden Kotski scored a goal for Taconic. Vinny Orlandi scored a pair of goals for Wahconah.

 

Taconic drew first blood when Peaslee cashed in the rebound of Kyle Crocker’s blast from the point in the the second minute.

 

Orlandi answered for Wahconah with 9 minutes, 22 seconds gone with an assist from Toby Ellingwood.

 

Taconic immediately jumped back ahead with an unassisted goal by Peaslee, and Kotski scored off an offensive zone faceoff win less than a minute later to make it 3-1.

 

Corbin Rumbolt scored unassisted for Wahconah early in the second period before Taconic started parading to the box.

 

Taconic accumulated 12 minutes of penalties in the period. It killed off most of them, including the five-minute major midway through the frame. But Orlandi scored a power play goal late in the period to tie it, 3-3.

 

Logan Spagnuolo made 17 of his 27 saves in the second period to help limit the damage.

 

“We work a fair amount on penalty killing, and we have a pretty good power play that works on it,” Daury said. “But you also need great goaltending. And if you look at Logan Spagnuolo tonight, I can think of at least two or three great saves in that four-minute penalty kill.

 

“Easily, they could have scored one or two. So think you’ve got to credit good penalty-killing, but also the goaltending was fantastic.”

 

Corey Callendar made 15 saves for Wahconah, which goes to West Springfield on Friday.

 

Taconic goes to New York to play Guilderland on Friday.