Wahconah Scores Early, Often in Win at Mount Everett

SHEFFIELD, Mass. -- The Wahconah hockey team Saturday wasted no time putting a disappointing loss in the rear-view mirror.

 

Wahconah scored three first-period goals to jump start a 6-2 win over Mount Everett and a bounceback from Thursday’s third-period collapse against Minnechaug.

 

“It’s huge to start the game off the right way, get a couple of goals, get things going your way,” Wahconah coach Matt Risley said. “That way, you can kind of relax and get into your game and play your game.”

 

Mason Alfonso and Ryan LaPierre each had a goal and an assist, and Liam Anderson scored twice and set up a goal as Wahconah improved to 4-1-1 this winter.

 

Risley said his players did not dwell on the missed opportunity against the Falcons, when late penalties allowed Chaug to erase a 2-1 Wahconah lead and skate off with a 6-3 decision.

 

“I talked to them and said, ‘Look, we’re on to Mount Everett,’ “ Risley said. “We’re done with that game. I was very proud of your effort. You put in a good effort, but now we’ve got to move on to Mount Everett. It’s one game at a time. We’ve got to play the game in front of us.”

 

Wahconah got things started by converting the first power play chance of the game when LaPierre set up Alfonso for a shot from the left wing about four minutes in.

 

Just more than a minute later, Alfonso returned the favor, setting up LaPierre on the doorstep with a pass from the right wing, and Wahconah had a 2-0 lead.

 

Midway through the period, Trey Massaro intercepted a Mount Everett clearing pass just outside the blue line, settled for a moment to allow his teammates to clear the zone and then brought the puck back in before ripping an unassisted goal to make it 3-0.

 

A Daniel Wilson goal made it 4-0 before Dylan Boomsma got the Eagles on the board with assists from Cam Raifstanger and Caleb Kollmer.

 

Liam Anderson scored late in the second to make it 5-1, Wahconah, but that score did not tell the whole tale of the first two periods.

 

Mount Everett was outshot just 24-20 in the first two periods. Jake Risley was stellar for Wahconah, turning aside 19 of 20 shots on goal to hold the Eagles down.

 

“I thought our kids fought hard, all the way from the first whistle to the last whistle,” Mount Everett coach Aidan Gilligan said. “They had a few more bounces go their way in front. They got two goals where they cleaned up rebounds in front.

 

“We couldn’t seem to convert a rebound today. Risley did a great job during the first two periods there, swallowing up most of the rebounds. He didn’t let up much, so he played very well.”

 

Well enough to give his dad and coach the freedom to insert backup Antonio Scalise for the third period and give valuable experience to other Wahconah reserves.

 

“That was absolutely huge,” Matt Risley said. “We got to get all four lines in there. Everyone on the bench played tonight. And that’s huge for development purposes, to get them out there and get a taste of the action, the speed of a varsity game. And they did well.”

 

Risley stayed with that rotation even after Raifstanger scored in the fourth minute of the third period to cut the deficit back to three goals.

 

“They’ve got to learn how to pick themselves up after a mistake and move on and learn from their mistakes -- just like everybody does in high school hockey,” he said. “You’ve got to learn from your mistakes and move on.”

 

The teams traded unsuccessful power play chances late in the third before Anderson was able to put back the rebound of Luke Peplowski’s shot with 1:01 on the clock to provide the final margin.

 

Wahconah is back home at the Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday to host Chicopee.

 

Mount Everett goes to Belchertown on Friday. The Eagles (1-4) will be looking to return to the form they showed in their first win of the season, Thursday against Southwick.

 

“The kids have been playing hard all season long,” Gilligan said. “We’ve had a lot of close games. This was our first four-goal difference. And [Saturday’s game] felt closer than that throughout the entire game.

 

“Getting the first goal is our biggest thing right now. We’ve played from behind in every game with the exception of Southwick, which we won. If we get that first goal, we play with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more patience with the puck.

 

“But I thought we played a good game today. Wahconah has a great team. They’ve got a good record. They’ve played some good competition so far. And they’re deep.”