Fresh off winning Western Mass’ first state championship since 1952, a number of Pope Francis’ hockey players got the band back together to pick up some more hardware. 

The Springfield Junior Thunderbirds won six straight games to earn the USA Hockey Division 1 championship.

The Junior Thunderbirds picked up shutouts in three of their six wins and bested the Brookings Rangers 5-1 on March 27 in the championship game just two weeks after they won a state championship. 

Easthampton’s Ryan O’Leary led the team with seven assists over the tournament, with Belchertown’s Zachary Buffone posting two goals and one assist and Easthampton’s Sean O’Leary adding a goal. 

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