EASTHAMPTON – Up until the third period of Wednesday night’s game, the Amherst and Easthampton hockey teams had played a relatively clean game. Each time the Hurricanes went ahead, the Eagles found a way to tie it. It became a back and forth affair until the third period. 

Amherst held on to a far-from-safe 4-3 cushion early in the final period, hoping to somehow, for the first time all game, extend its lead. Amherst on the other hand, was once again trying to pull even.

Amherst got its big break 11 minutes, 25 seconds into the final period.

Easthampton’s Drew Thompson landed a penalty, putting him on the sidelines for two minutes. Not even 20 seconds later, Parker Christy joined him in the box. Back-to-back penalties provided the break the Hurricanes had been looking for. 

Amherst forward Yuuki Ishida coasted toward the net and slapped the puck past Easthampton goalie Paige Galpin to give the ’Canes a 5-3 lead. The tally also gave Ishida his second goal of the night.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Ishida said. “It was a nice pass by Skyler [Ferro] and I just saw an opening and scored.” 

Not even a minute later, with a five-on-three advantage, Jack Dyjach put one into the back of the net for his second of the night that put things out of reach. Amherst held on for a 6-3 victory at Lossone Rink.

“We didn't make it about ourselves,” Ishida said. “We moved the puck and worked as a team to get more scoring chances.” 

Amherst head coach Mike Rousseau knows how valuable power play opportunities are and how crucial they can be to winning close games.

“Every coach will tell you, you work on special teams for these moments,” Rousseau said. “You can go 0-for-15, but if you can go 3-for-4 on power plays, especially on a good team like Easthampton, it's huge.”

Even though the Hurricanes put together a six-goal night, it included a blank second period, where they couldn't get anything going on the offensive end. One thing that Rousseau harped on was consistency on the offensive end. 

“We strung two or three shifts together, but also took three or four shifts off,” Rousseau said. “You can’t do that against good teams or you’ll get blown off the ice.”

Amherst (8-9) has one game remaining until the postseason, as it’ll play Agawam on Thursday night at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield. 

On the Easthampton side, it was a disappointing end to the night. The Eagles had hung around all day, putting themselves in a position to possibly come away with the win heading into the final period. 

The Eagles, who were attempting to win their fifth straight game, dropped to 11-6-1. Mikey Thompson led the offense with two goals, both occurring in the first period, while Ethan Marowitz also added a third-period tally.

“I don't think we did anything well tonight,” Easthampton head coach Tim Pfau said. “The team aspect needs to come around quickly heading into the postseason.” 

Easthampton has one regular season game remaining, as it’ll host Taconic on Saturday. 

“It's going to be a big game,” Pfau said. “You don't want to lose two games in a row just sliding in [to the postseason]. It's gonna take good practice [Thursday], a little bit of team bonding to get that big win.”

Amherst and Easthampton could very well see each other again in the Western Mass. Class B championship game. The Eagles will likely be the No. 1 seed in the field while Amherst was slotted at No. 3 in the most recent power rankings.

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