AMHERST – Special teams were the difference-maker in a wild early morning contest between the Easthampton and Belchertown hockey teams on Saturday. 

The high-flying Orioles were lighting the lamp plenty early on, scoring right after two different power plays expired and racing out to a 5-1 lead. But the same penalties that gave them momentum in the early stages of the game came back to bite them late, giving the Eagles a chance to get back in the mix. 

Up 6-3 in the third period, the Orioles started parading to the penalty box. With just over seven and a half minutes remaining in the third frame, Belchertown’s Brady Moreau was whistled for a cross-checking penalty and the Eagles’ Drew Thompson scored nine seconds into the power play to make it a two-goal game. Two minutes later, James Delaney went to the box for a trip and teammate Aiden Torna joined him 57 seconds later, giving the Eagles over a minute of a 5-on-3 power play. 

It was a make or break moment for both teams, and ultimately the Orioles pulled through. They killed off the penalty and held off any other comeback attempts to secure a 6-4 victory over Easthampton at the Mullins Center Practice Rink. It was the sixth win of the season for Belchertown (6-1), and a bounce back win after its first loss of the season to Minnechaug the night before. 

“I'm not happy with the five on three. We’ve got to capitalize on that,” Easthampton head coach Tim Pfau said. “Our start killed us. First 10 minutes I think we gave up three [goals]. If we don't have that start, it's a tighter game.” 

The Orioles jumped out to a fast start, outshooting the Eagles 8-4 and notching a trio of goals. Less than five minutes into the opening period, Charlie Fijal and Delaney crashed the net and Delaney picked up the goal, assisted by Fijal and Moreau. Four minutes later, Moreau scored his first goal of the game seconds after a power play expired, sniping a shot past Easthampton netminder Paige Galpin to make it 2-0.

Less than two minutes after Moreau’s goal, Cody Samson joined the party for Belchertown, ripping the puck top shelf to give the Orioles a commanding 3-0 lead. 

The Eagles (5-3) capitalized on a breakaway late in the frame, with Owen Duda scoring a goal with 11 seconds left in the period to make it 3-1. 

Torna made it 4-1 just seconds after a power play expired in the second period, assisted by Delaney.

The Orioles’ power play has recently gotten revamped, and Belchertown saw those changes pay dividends against the Eagles. 

“We made a new lineup for (the power play). So we’re just rolling with that, just put pucks on the net,” Moreau said. “It’s a new setup, and new guys as well.” 

Moreau picked up his second goal of the night to go on hat trick watch at the 6:07 mark of the second period and give the Orioles a 5-1 lead. 

Down but not out, the Eagles went to work to close the gap. Zachary Roy notched a goal for Easthampton to make it 5-2 with 3:18 left in the period, and Rob Herman scored again for the Eagles roughly two minutes later to give Easthampton a big energy boost heading into the third period. 

That was promptly extinguished by Moreau, who scored his hat trick goal a minute and a half into the third period to give Belchertown its sixth and final tally of the morning. 

The Orioles will get a break before traveling to face West Springfield on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles will host Chicopee on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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