WEST SPRINGFIELD – East Longmeadow boys hockey was sitting comfortably ahead of Ludlow by two goals when Kevin Baker added his second goal to the Spartans’ total.
On a power play which saw the Lions’ Tanner Severyn in the box, the junior received the puck from teammate Cody Shaw.
Starting down on the Spartan’s side of the ice, the puck was shot from near the wall where Shaw picked it up. He then passed to Baker who shot under Ludlow goaltender Donald Rogers to secure a 4-1 win for the Lions.
“(Baker) is an excellent overall player, he started off hot but kind of cooled down (this season) but (Tuesday) was a nice night for him,” East Longmeadow coach Dan Reid said. “He’s just overall a great hard worker, great defensive center and offense center.”
The junior’s first goal of the night came 10 and a half minutes into the matchup and about 40 seconds after the Spartans opening goal.
Nearly dead center on net, Baker received a pass from Rhett Ribeiro to put East Longmeadow up by two.
To open the night, the Spartans were dominant, taking advantage of many of their open shots on Rogers’ net and breakthroughs in play.
Alex Roman did just that to kickstart East Longmeadow’s dominance.
Skating ahead of his teammates, the junior received the puck from Antonio Calabrese. Shooting on net, Roman’s original shot was saved by Rogers. But this didn’t deter the junior and instead he went for a second chance, placing the puck past Rogers to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
East Longmeadow’s third goal of the night was scored 12:49 into the second period when Joseph Mazza found himself on the left of the net after a pass from Jack Rustico. He then passed to an open Shaw who was directly in front of Rogers net. He then shot the puck over Fisher’s shoulder to extend the Spartans lead to three.
“We had a really good defensive night,” Reid said. “Ludlow’s been playing some really good hockey the last couple (of) weeks…I think our team defense is playing well from our goaltender (Owen) Fisher to our forward (defense), even our offense are pitching (in) some great (defensive) zone coverage.”
As the third period got underway, the Lions came out with aggression, hunting for a goal. Despite the onslaught of shots fired at him, Fisher defended his net diligently.
It wasn’t until 10:43 into the last period of Tuesday’s contest when Ludlow broke through East Longmeadow’s strong defense.
Starting down on their side of the ice, the Lions won the puck from a face-off and brought it down ice. From the right post area, Sean Kefalas gained control of the puck from Evan Dias. Kefalas then passed to the center to Nick Derion who fired the puck past Fisher to bring the scoreline to 3-1.
Despite the goal, Ludlow was unable to capitalize on any of its other chances throughout the remaining four minutes of play.
“We could’ve generated more offense and (we) would’ve been OK,” Lions coach Paul Rivest said.
During the break between the second and third periods, Rivest told his team that they needed to finish chances they had and “getting pucks to the net.”
Last season, the Spartans fell in the semifinal round of the Western Mass. tournament. With Tuesday’s win, they reach the final for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
“We’re just excited to have the chance, we’re one of the smaller teams out here in Western Mass., we compete really hard,” Reid said. “I’m just very proud to have the chance (to win).”
East Longmeadow will next face Westfield in the Western Mass. Class A final round on Thursday, Feb. 29. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m.