WESTFIELD – Trailing 3-2 late in the second period, the Easthampton hockey team found itself locked in a tight game for the first time all season on Tuesday afternoon.

The Eagles passed the test with flying colors.

Easthampton responded with six unanswered goals, rallying past host Southwick for an 8-3 Wright Division victory at Amelia Park Arena.

The Eagles stayed undefeated with a perfect 5-0 record, 4-0 in the league. Southwick dropped to 1-4.

“I knew we had to shake off some rust after being off for the holiday since last Thursday,” Easthampton coach Tim Pfau said. “And historically, this rink has caused some problems for us. I figured we’d be sloppy to start but once we settled in we were able to play like we’re capable.”

Penalties doomed Easthampton during the first two periods. Locked in a 2-2 game in the second period, Southwick took a 3-2 advantage with a Kingston Goodman power play strike, and then had a 5-on-3 advantage with a chance to add to its cushion.

But the Eagles locked down defensively, and goalie Paige Galpin came up with a few key saves to keep it a one-goal contest. Zach Roy, who was all over the ice on Tuesday, tied the game with 3:26 left in the second, and Drew Thompson followed just 1:50 later with a power play strike to give Easthampton its first lead of the outing at 4-3 entering the third.

“When we don’t take penalties, and we can play 5-on-5 hockey, I like our odds against anybody,” Pfau said.

It was all Eagles in the third period. Gabe Growhoski, Parker Christy, Rob Herman and Brennan Stortz all found the back of the net, and Galpin even saved a Southwick penalty shot for good measure to account for the 8-3 final.

Herman and Anthony Torchia netted first-period goals for Easthampton, which trailed 1-0 just 1:34 into the game when Southwick’s Andrew Galczynski got the hosts off to a quick start with a tally.

Easthampton, which beat Southwick 5-1 two weeks ago at Lossone Rink, is right back at it on Wednesday with a home game against McCann Tech. Pfau noted that the schedule is going to ramp up for the Eagles, with games against Saint Paul Diocesan in Worcester on Saturday before the first of two matchups with Wright Division foe Greenfield on Jan. 3.

“Our schedule definitely gets tougher coming up so we know we have to be ready to go from the beginning against these teams we’ve got ahead,” Pfau said.