WEST SPRINGFIELD - All of Chris Menard's considerable hockey skills were on full display Friday night.

The South Hadley senior forward scored twice within the first five minutes of play and assisted on a third tally as the Tigers went on to defeat Agawam 3-2 at the Olympia Ice Center.

South Hadley (4-0) jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after 11 minutes, then held on late as the Brownies (2-2) mounted a comeback attempt.

"We always like to do something positive on the first few shifts, just to set the tone for the game," Menard said. "We want to establish control, and that first goal is always key."

Menard's first goal of the night was a workmanlike effort just over a minute in. After his first short-side wraparound attempt was stopped by goalie Anthony Ascioti, Menard received the puck again down low. He jammed the puck past Ascioti to the short post.

Just over three minutes later, Menard anticipated a pass in the neutral zone, then made a shift at the blue line which sent him in free on the left wing. His quick snap shot beat Ascioti high to the glove side for a 2-0 lead.

"After the steal, I knew I had to get by the defenseman," Menard said. "For some reason, he slid on his belly, which made it easier to get by. Once I got in on goal, I just roofed it because he left the top shelf open."

"That second one was a beautiful goal, a goal-scorer's goal," Tigers coach John Houle said. "Their goalie tonight was similar to the guy we played Thursday against Amherst. So when he went into the butterfly, we wanted to go up top."

The Tigers outshot the Brownies 15-7 in the first period and dominated control of the puck. Agawam's first shot on goalie Devin Hoagland didn't come until there was 5:47 left in the period.

Late in the period, the Tigers' power play went to work and added to the lead. Jeff Beauregard fed Menard at the left circle with room to operate. Menard zipped a pass across the slot to Doug Sattler, who one-timed it past Ascioti.

"We've been working a lot on the power play, so it's nice to see that pay off," Menard said. "We passed it well there, and I saw Doug back post, put it on him and he did the rest."

Menard and Sattler saw lots of ice time together on the power play and penalty kill, but the Tigers used different line combinations that split the two up for much of the night.

"I mixed up the lines a bit, seeing how it might work," said Houle. "That was really for this Agawam game, to get the guys going and in sync by the time the tournament starts."

Menard said, "Doug and I have played together for a long time, and we have a great connection with each other. The Agawam coach watched our first couple games, so we wanted to switch things up for this one. This game shows that each of us can work with anybody on our team, because we have talent all over."

The momentum began to shift about midway through the second as Agawam finally put its high-octane attack into gear. Their top line, anchored by Corey Jenks and Alex Abliantis, turned up the pressure on the young Tigers defense, which held its ground until the final minute of the period.

On the man-advantage, Jenks found room on the right wing, made a spin move to get free into the attacking zone, then beat Hoagland low to the far side to cut it to 3-1.

Jenks' breakaway tally with 2:19 to play gave the Brownies hope, then South Hadley took a penalty with 1:18 left.

South Hadley, which killed off 6-of-7 penalties, never allowed Agawam a solid scoring opportunity, and Beauregard scaled the puck high off the glass and out of the zone to run off the final seconds.

"Our goal on the kill is to just get it out of our zone any way possible," said Menard. "We did a good job of that against a really good team."

"We wanted to stay out of the box against a team like Agawam," Houle said. "We didn't do that, but we have a solid system on the kill, and the guys did a nice job limiting their chances."

Hoagland, who hadn't been heavily tested in the first three games, made 21 saves and did a nice job of not giving Agawam rebound opportunities.

Beauregard, Casey Baker and Joe Whalen picked an assist apiece in the win.

South Hadley had played only two games in 12 days to start the season, but had their first back-to-back situation after a 6-1 victory at Amherst Thursday.

"We knew we'd be tired tonight, but everyone got some good sleep last night and we were ready mentally and physically for this one," said Menard.

Houle said, "I wished that the back-to-back was a little later in the season, but the guys weren't as fatigued as I thought they might be."

The final Friday night was identical to the last two sectional title matchups between these squads.

"After two straight times in the western Mass. title game, they came out fired up and so did we," said Menard. "Both teams wanted to show who the best is early in the season. Our schools both have a lot of spirit, and it's great to see South Hadley supporting us well."

Houle added, "This has turned into quite a rivalry, Agawam against Holyoke-South Hadley. It's fun to see, and it's always a hard-fought game. Both teams have great respect for the other."

Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.