Game Results
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WEST SPRINGFIELD – After East Longmeadow’s Ben Wosky scored his second unassisted goal of the night, the chants rang out from the Spartans’ student section: “He’s a sophomore! He’s a sophomore!” Wosky, who also set up linemate Joe Santaniello’s first goal of the game, was one of the youngest players on the ice on Tuesday. He didn’t look it, though, leading the way as the No. 4 Spartans beat No. 5 Minnechaug, 6-4, to advance to the Western Mass. semifinals. “Ben’s an excellent hockey player,” East Longmeadow coach Dan Reid said. “On a night like this, that’s who you rely on, and that whole line, with Jack McIntyre, Ben Wosky and Joe Santaniello, producing five out of six goals – that’s what you expect as a coach, and they delivered.” East Longmeadow (10-7-4) pulled away from Minnechaug (9-8-4) in the third period after ending the second with a 4-3 lead. Goals from Robert Robare and Santaniello in the final frame gave the Spartans a three-goal cushion, and though the Falcons got a late goal from Jake Cranston, they ran out of time to come back. The Spartans will face No. 1 Agawam in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. “In spurts, we played well. In spurts, we didn’t,” Minnechaug coach Greg Palm said. “We played hard until the end. One of those games where somebody’s got to lose. We split the season with them. They’re well coached, and that’s a good bunch of players. They put the puck in the net when you make mistakes.” The Spartans have perhaps the Berry League’s strongest offense, but they had to contend with a Minnechaug team that has two reliable scoring lines, as well as a few defensemen with strong shots. “What we had to do was watch their line of (Anthony) Piteo and (Dominic) Falvo,” Reid said. “They’re real fast. When they were out there, we tried to play defense first and hang back. They still did beat us for some, but in general, we did a really good job against that first line.” The two teams traded goals within the first six minutes of the game, setting the tone for a fast-paced, high-scoring matchup. McIntyre finished off a rebound from Santaniello to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead, but Minnechaug’s Eric Ayotte answered less than five minutes later, following Falvo down the ice on a breakaway and knocking in Falvo’s rebound. With less than a minute left in the first, the Spartans took the lead back. Wosky took advantage of a turnover in Minnechaug’s defensive zone and hit Santaniello with a pass on the right post for East Longmeadow’s second goal. Wosky then earned two breakaways in the second period, scoring on both. He leads East Longmeadow in scoring with 41 points, and his line, with Santaniello and McIntyre, has combined for 54 goals this year. “I think we just work well together,” Wosky said. “We find each other well. A big part of our line is Jack McIntyre, also. He gets us the puck, and me and (Santaniello), we go down (to the net) and we work together well.” Late in the second, Minnechaug fought its way back into the game. Mike Diotalevi beat East Longmeadow goalie Matt Gasparini with a wrister through traffic to cut the lead to two. Then, with less than three minutes left in the period, Dominic Falvo broke away with the puck shorthanded and beat Gasparini high to send the Falcons to the second intermission trailing only 4-3. In the third, though, East Longmeadow’s relentless forecheck made the difference. The Spartans forced turnover after turnover, two of those leading to Robare’s and Santaniello’s goals, and made it difficult for Minnechaug to gain much momentum until the game’s final minutes. “With a lead of 4-3, I didn’t want to play defensive hockey. I wanted to continue to play how we play and cause some turnovers, which caused some big goals,” Reid said. “Robbie Robare’s fifth goal was just pure hustle by him, forechecking and just never stopping. I was really proud of him, as a senior, to come up big like that for us.” In the semifinals, East Longmeadow faces an Agawam team it has tied twice this year, 6-6 and 4-4. No other team this year has put up as many as four goals on Brownies goalie Chris Walles, who did not play in the 6-6 tie on Jan. 11. “We’ve got some crafty players, and when they get down low, they’re not just shooting,” Reid said. “They’ve got their heads up and they’re making plays on him and going to the net hard for the rebounds.” The semifinal will pit a red-hot Spartan offense against a stalwart Agawam defense, and Reid said East Longmeadow looks forward to the challenge. “They’re so good defensively,” Reid said of Agawam. “They’re probably the best team in Western Mass. They’re the No. 1 team. They deserve it. They’re well coached. We’re really, really going to have to play a strong game, and maybe our best game of the year, to get past them.”
Date: February 25, 2014
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: Olympia Ice Center
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