As Westfield and Minnechaug faced off Thursday night at the Olympia in West Springfield, the Bombers had to have their last meeting on their minds.  The Falcons destroyed the Bombers 6-1 totally dominating in all facets of the game that night.  On this night, it was evident that Westfield had chalked that game up as a bad night.  Westfield controlled play for the majority of this contest, but the opportunistic Falcons hung in there to grind out a 2-2 tie.  Westfield got on the board first midway through the 1st period when Ryan Moorhouse jumped on a loose puck at his own blue line and took the puck wide down the left wing, circling the net and finding an open Connor Fitzgerald at the right point.  Fitzgerald snapped off a quick shot that found its' way through a screen and past 'Chaug goalie Corbi Marini.  Westfield did a great job of getting out of their own zone moving the puck to the open man, but also chipping the puck offs the glass when needed. 

The momentum continued into the 2nd period with Westfield pinning the Falcons in their own zone for most of the period with a ferocious forecheck.  They struck for a 2-0 lead as a power play expired when Moorhouse took a pass high in the slot from Fitzgerald, and when no Falcons moved to him, he picked his spot and fired a laser past Marini.  The pressure continued from all 3 Bomber lines with Peter Christantopoulos and Danny Antonellis almost connecting on a 2 on 1 later in the period.  Minnechaug got on the board when a huge turnover by Westfield's defense gave the puck to Dominic Terzi, who fed a pass in the slot to Steve Mushenko who slammed it past a helpless C.J. Czarnecki.  Westfield missed a key chance with 3 minutes remaining in the stanza when Matt Bacon poke checked the puck from a Minnechaug defenseman at the 'Chaug blue line, tapped it to Spencer Cloutier who quickly fed it to Aidan Fitzgerald.  The rangy winger put a great double move on Marini but his backhand attempt into the open net went wide.

Third period action had both teams locking down on each other trying not to make a mistake.  Both teams showed great hustle in contesting everything all over the ice.  At the 9:25 point of the 3rd period, yet another turnover behind their own net cost the Bombers another goal as this time, Brandon Vreeland stole the puck and fed it out front to Aiden Duquette for the tieing goal.  The Bombers mounted a couple of more scoring chances in the 3rd, but Minnechaug packed in their players very effectively blocking at least a dozen shots in protecting Marini.  Westfield squandered an opportunity late when they were given a power play chance with 1:54 remaining only to lose that chance goalie Czarnecki was whistled for high-sticking as he made contact with a Falcon player as he played the puck behind his own net.  

NOTES: The newly formed line of Scotty Bussell, Moorhouse, and Kevin Hosmer has given the Bombers added scoring punch on that line along with depth on their other lines.  All lines were buzzing throughout this contest; Bomber players showed some great heart and toughness with Danny Buckelew blocking a shot off the back of his leg but continuing on, Connor Fitzgerald suffering a ghastly bloody cut above his lip on a high hit missing only a couple of shifts, and Cloutier re-injuring a shoulder early in the game but gutting it out to the finish.