Haley's Hundredth Highlights Hoosac Win
CHESHIRE, Mass. -- After scoring his third goal in Friday’s season opener, Nate Haley asked the referee to let him take the ball to the sideline.
He earned it -- both for the 99 goals that preceded it and the year-long wait to reach the 100-goal plateau.
“I was hoping it would come sooner,” Haley said. “I was wishing I would have had last year. But obviously COVID didn’t feel like letting that happen.”
Haley scored five goals and assisted on two more Friday to help Hoosac Valley earn a 16-3 win over Mount Greylock.
Lucas Waterman led the Hurricanes with six goals and three assists, and Carson Meczwyor had a hat trick and set up six goals.
“We were confident coming in,” said Haley, a Drury High School senior on the cooperative team. “We knew we had some young kids, but we were confident in how we practiced. We were ready to play.
“‘For our first game, we did decent. We still have room for improvement. But after a year of not playing, any of us, we’ll be alright after a little bit. We just have to get the flow going.”
The Hurricanes’ offense was flowing in the first quarter as it jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Meczywor set up Waterman for the game’s first score in the third minute and scored one of his own a minute later. Haley then scored three straight in a span of 2 minutes, 16 seconds before Meczywor and Waterman closed out the first-quarter scoring, the latter on a man advantage.
Mount Greylock, which suits up just 11 players this spring, regrouped after the Hoosac’s initial run.
“They were running the table on us there for a minute, but we made some adjustments,” Mount Greylock coach Bruce Goff said. “Our zone defense, when we started out the game was really loose, wide, too wide. Guys were just coming right through it, and we needed to tighten that zone up.
“I don’t care if they’re behind the net, I don’t care if they’re 10 yards outside the net, we need to make them work to get to the net, and we were just too porous to start with.”
The Mounties scored three times in 3-½ minutes to start the third quarter while giving up one goal at the other end.
Eamon Heatherington got Mount Greylock on the board with a goal off a rebound on the man-up to make it 7-1. Ten seconds later off a faceoff win, Patrick Ross converted an assist from Heatherington.
After Waterman scored on the man-up at the other end, Mount Greylock’s Cam Taylor scored with help from Ross in transition to get the Mounties within five.
But Hoosac Valley scored three times before half-time and was never challenged the rest of the way.
Aidan Koczela and Wesley Emerson needed to make four saves to earn the win in Hoosac Valley’s goal. Will Broadwell made nine saves for Mount Greylock.
The Mounties will look for their first win on Tuesday against Pittsfield in Williamstown. The Hurricanes travel to Dalton to face Wahconah on Tuesday.