Hockey: Tom Crotty scores twice for Tigers; Andrew Leitch makes 53 saves for St. Joe's.
WEST SPRINGFIELD – In its previous four runs as Western Massachusetts Division IIIA high school hockey champions, South Hadley had won nearly every way possible.
On Monday, though, the Tigers ran into yet another – the hot opposing goaltender.
South Hadley threw 56 shots at Saint Joseph’s netminder Andrew Leitch in Monday’s semifinal. Fifty-three of them were stopped, but the three that went through were enough for the Tigers to advance.
Junior defenseman Tom Crotty scored a pair of goals to lead South Hadley to a 3-2 victory over St. Joe’s at the Olympia Ice Center.
“We got spoiled last year. Four 100-goal scorers graduated, but now we’re getting goals from all over the place,” South Hadley coach John Houle said. “I move Crotty up there for some scoring power.”
The No. 2-seed Tigers (17-3-3) will face either No. 1 Agawam or No. 4 Wahconah in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. A matchup with Agawam would be the fourth straight time these teams meet in the final.
Leitch made 53 saves for No. 6 St. Joe’s (10-7-2), after stopping 52 shots last Tuesday in a 5-3 quarterfinal win over Chicopee.
Crotty tallied what at the time was an insurance goal at 6:16 of the third period, as his wrist shot from the right slot eluded Leitch to make it 3-1.
That goal ended up proving vital when the Crusaders got back within one goal on Dan Flynn’s power-play tally with 2:07 remaining.
“I just kind of threw that one on net, and luckily it went in,” Crotty said.
Joe Whalen put South Hadley ahead by scoring off a faceoff only 3:01 into the contest, on what was already the Tigers’ seventh shot on goal. St. Joe’s tied it 5:55 later, as Mike Bloom converted an Andy Cella rebound.
The Tigers pushed ahead on a wraparound by Crotty at 6:32 of the second. After two periods, South Hadley had outshot St. Joe’s 40-16.
With Nick Watkins filling in for the injured Ben Kravetz on defense, Houle has been able to send Crotty and Jeff Beauregard up into the offensive zone to provide additional weaponry.
The strong play of senior goalie Devin Hoagland (21 saves) also allows the Tigers’ defensemen to play both ways effectively.
“I explained to them that I’m going to take chances with the D pinching in and such to get some more pucks,” Houle said. “That’s been okay itself.”