SPRINGFIELD ― As Minnechaug found itself on unfamiliar ice at the MassMutual Center, the team also ended up in a situation it hadn’t faced yet this season.
The Falcons have been an offensive powerhouse through their first six games of the season. Prior to Friday, Minnechaug averaged nine goals a game, and has scored 10 or more times in three of those games.
However, matched up against Amherst, they struggled to find the back of the net.
A lone goal late in the first period was all the Falcon offense could produce, while their defense shut down the Hurricanes to hold them scoreless. Although it wasn’t like their past games, Minnechaug still notched their sixth win of the season in the narrow, 1-0, victory.
“We didn’t play very well,” Falcons coach Kyle Bousquet said. “And when we were, we got the score in the first period… but we didn’t play well as a group. We just showed up to the rink and went through the motions and it wasn’t a good team effort, not like we’ve been playing.”
“I’ll give (Amherst) credit,” Bousquet added. “They played hard. We told (our players) we’re going to get most people’s best games or most teams’ best games. We weren’t ready to match their energy and it showed.”
As the contest got underway, Minnechaug was quick to get immediate offensive pressure on the Hurricanes’ keeper.
Although none went in initially, they held control of the puck as the game progressed. Even when faced with an Amherst power play opportunity, and then a 4-on-4, the Falcons’ defensive unit held strong.
Minnechaug totaled 16 shots on goal against the Hurricanes in the first period, and one finally broke through at the 11 minute mark.
While Amherst was in another power play opportunity, the Falcons capitalized on a breakaway opportunity with the puck. With most players on the other end of the rink, Brody Faneuff received a pass from Kelly Balog and was faced one-on-one against Hurricanes’ keeper, Jason Kim.
Headed straight for Kim, Faneuff sent a quick wrist shot into the net for the shorthanded goal.
“Shorthanded goals don’t happen often, so if you can get one, it’s great,” Bousquet said. “I’m working on the penalty kill a bit in practice so it’s good to see us get a shorthanded goal off of it. Whenever you can get a goal when you’re down a man is always a big boost for the group.”
Faneuff’s goal was his ninth of the season, as the senior leads the Falcons in scoring.
As the first period wrapped up, the forward’s goal would become the lone score of the game between both sides and a defensive battle quickly ensued through the next two periods.
Amherst saw another power play opportunity early to start the second, but Minnechaug’s goalkeeper, Chase Folli, made a key save off the shot by Joshua Feldman to avoid the equalizing goal.
While the Falcons swapped goalies and Matt Lafley came in halfway through the second, both keepers made important saves and deflected pucks away to sustain the shutout against the Hurricanes.
On the other side, Minnechaug’s offense continued to pelt 10 more shots on goal against Amherst, but failed to connect on any real opportunities.
“Our defense did what they needed to do to get pucks up the ice quickly and both our goalies played well to not let any in,” Bousquet said. “We just didn’t execute on the offensive side and that comes with not just scoring goals, but forechecking and creating turnovers and creating pressure in the offensive zone and we didn’t have that energy today.”
Inconsistent offenses were apparent on both sides as the Hurricanes also struggled to maintain any offense pressure. By the end of the second, they had only 12 shots on goal.
Now in the third, the intensity of the game picked up in all phases.
The Falcons were on another breakaway attempt, but Amherst defenseman Alex Marlin stole the puck away before a shot was taken. Then on a Minnechaug power play, Enzo Hrycay sent back-to-back shots at Kim, but the senior saved both to keep the deficit at one for the Hurricanes.
Not long after, the Falcons defense shut down a breakaway attempt by an Amherst forward as they kept searching for their first score of the game.
With close to five minutes left, one of the Hurricane’s last ditch efforts nearly found home in Minnechaug’s net, but narrowly missed the goal through the chaos of players in the area.
In the end, Amherst drops to 3-3-1 with the shutout and Minnechaug prevailed off Faneuff’s early goal to improve to 6-1.
Next up, the Hurricane’s have a quick turnaround with a game on Saturday, Jan. 3 against West Springfield at 12:30 p.m.
As for the Falcons, they don’t head back on the ice until Friday, Jan. 9 at 7:10 p.m. against Longmeadow.
