Wahconah Hockey Team Wins Playoff Opener

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — With two of its top players sidelined going into Tuesday’s Western Massachusetts tournament opener, the Wahconah hockey team needed someone to step up big.

Nate Lapine fit the bill nicely.

Lapine assisted on two goals in the first two minutes and scored an empty-net goal of his own to lead Wahconah to a 4-1 win over St. Mary’s at the Olympia Ice Arena.

“I think he was probably our best player out there the whole game,” Wahconah coach Don Disbrow said. “His forecheck and taking away their passing lanes - he did an awesome job.

“He’s a little spark plug. He keeps going. He controlled the puck down in the offensive zone. And on the [penalty kill], how much time did he burn off in the corner? That had to be 35 seconds.

“That’s what Nate does. That’s why he’s a captain. That’s why he’s a leader and one of our top goal scorers.”

Two other top goal scorers for Wahconah, Andrew Beaudoin and Mike Bloom, were sitting out a two-game suspension stemming from an incident instigated by their opponent in last week’s regular season finale.

“It was definitely a struggle because they’re our leading two scorers and they help motivate the team and get everyone pumped up,” Lapine said. “We were definitely able to do it, but it would have been a better game if they were with us.

“We kind of knew it was going to be a challenge for us. But we knew if we kept working hard and getting chances, we were going to score.”

It did not take like for the tournament’s No. 3 seed to light the lamp.

In the first minute of the game, Lapine took the puck from the left wing behind the goal and sent a pass out to Vinnie Orlandi in the slot. Orlandi slid a shot past keeper Val Reopel to make it 1-0.

Moments later, Lapine set up Mike Moreno as Wahconah took a 2-0 lead.

But from there, Reopel settled down, stopping the next 23 shots he faced while his teammates generated a late first-period goal to make it 2-1 at the first intermission.

It stayed 2-1 until nearly the 44-minute mark, despite Wahconah’s dominance of the game in the third period.

“Towards the end, running two lines, we were getting a little tired,” Lapine said. “But we had enough willpower to make it through it and come out with the win.”

With 1 minute, 3 seconds on the clock, Orlandi scored an empty-net goal, and Lapine added an empty-netter with help from Logan Rumbolt with 11 seconds left to play.

Disbrow said it was disappointing that both teams did not have a chance to face each other at full strength. Like Wahconah, St. Mary’s was dealing with suspensions.

It’s no laughing matter, but Disbrow was able to crack a rueful smile thinking about the adjustments he made over the last few days.

“I was probably on my third line change in two days just trying to figure out some rhythm and chemistry,” he said. “Staying up late at night, flip-flopping, deciding, ‘I’m going to do this. No, I’m going to do that.’

“It’s tough when you go an entire season with three lines with some chemistry and then it all just kind of gets blown up on you.”

Wahconah (15-4-1) takes on second-seeded Chicopee Comp (12-5-3) on Saturday the Division 3A sectional semi-finals.