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  In the end, WMass champ Westfield proved to be too much for Scituate. The defending state champs threw at Westfield everything they had, but in the end, it just didn't prove to be quite enough as the Bombers claimed the state title, 3-2, in a rematch of last year's MIAA Division III state final, won by the Sailors, 1-0.
  Westfield scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation. After breaking up a Scituate rush, Sean Frere took the puck deep into Sailor territory. Frere lost control of the biscuit near the right circle, but was able to make a diving effort and chip the puck in front of the Scituate goal where Ryan Leonard slid it under Murray for what would prove to be the game winner with 50.8 left on the clock.
  Westfield had got things going quickly, scoring under a half a minute into the first period. Rich Asselin buried a beautiful feed from behind the net from linemate Josh Gearing just 29 seconds in to give Westfield the early one tally lead.
  Despite being down a notch, the Sailors all but dominated the game during the first period. The beneficiary of three power plays in the first stanza, Scituate was able to dictate the flow of the game but was not however able to draw even. Westfield went on their first power play early in the second period. They had a few solid bids, but Scituate netminder Jamie Murray made a few flashy pad saves to keep the Sailor deficit at just one goal.
  Though through nearly two periods just one goal had been netted, the game's pace was still fast and rugged. Then the Sailors found the breakthrough they had been looking for since the beginning of the first block. Scituate's Jamie Pratt made an acrobatic play to keep the puck in the Bomber zone while being dragged down to the surface. As he fell, Pratt managed to slide a pass toward Pat Duggan who buried a shot from the right circle to knot things at 1-1 with just 36 seconds left in the second period. Scituate's 20-11 shot advantage through two periods finally paid off.
As quickly as Scituate drew even, they fell behind again. Just 3:52 into the third, Dan Ross tipped home an Anthony Howard slapper to give Westfield the 2-1 lead with 11:08 remaining in the bout. Shortly after Ross' go ahead goal, Scituate appeared to strike again but the goal was waved off and the lead stayed at one. Then, with regulation and in turn the Sailors' season drawing to a close, Danny Galvin, who has been a spark for Scituate throughout the tournament, tallied with 4:08 to play to tie things up at two goals a side.
  As the final minute ran off the clock, it looked as though the excitement of a state championship game would be amplified tenfold. It looked as though these two goliaths would meet in the extra stanza to settle things. But just as that thought began creeping into the heads of every Bomber and Sailor fan alike, something happened to change everything. It was Leonard who would be the hero on the day for Westfield.

  It wasn't easy, but Westfield beat Longmeadow 3-2 in the Western Mass. tournament final. Bombers coach C.B. Matthews acknowledged the game could have gone either way.
"It was a tough game," he said, adding that all three periods were hard hitting. In fact, the Bombers went down 1-0 when the Lancers' Devin Joyce put one past goalie Alex Wiggs.
  But, Westfield came back with two unanswered goals to clinch the crown. Ryan Leonard, who scored only 12 points in regular season play, came up with the two big tallies, assisted on one of them by one of the league's top scorers, Sean Frere, who racked up 27 points prior to the playoffs.
  Lancers coach Jim Joyce said his team got off to a slow start and was out-shot heavily during the opening minutes of the first period. But, goalie Billy Mooney, who was able to play despite being knocked out of the semifinal game against East Longmeadow with an injury, shut down the first Bombers onslaught.
  Like Westfield, Longmeadow is losing a core group of seniors this year, among them defensemen Axel Nilsson, Ted Chesbro, Richard Travers and Matt Fratini, forwards Nick Rabideau and Peter Kenney and goalie Billy Mooney. So, the players were sad in the locker room after the game. But, over time, Joyce said, they should come to see this match-up in a positive light.
  "It was a good hockey game," Joyce said. "They left everything out there. They really did a nice job."
  Some different bounces here or there could have changed the outcome, he said. But, the teams were evenly matched. Joyce credits the defense with putting in stellar performances during the last few games of the regular season and during the playoffs. Among the seniors who will depart Westfield this year are Frere, Rich Asselin and Corey Bellamy.

  Hudson (16-4-3) hung in there as long as it could after all-purpose senior forward Kevin Christie broke his collarbone in the first period, but Gardner's defensive intensity and opportunistic offense was too much for the Hawks to overcome, as Gardner took a 5-3 win and its second straight Central Mass. championship.
  It was the fifth time this year that Gardner (18-2-4) allowed as many as three goals in a game, and they were on the winning side of those games three times. On the other side of the spectrum, senior goalie Mike Colcord (1.18 goals against average) and his defense recorded five shutouts.
  "I was surprised that we were tied at two after one period," said Hudson coach Mike Nanartowich. "The score might have been closer in the end if we had Christie for the entire game, but Gardner was still the better team in this game."
  Gardner fell behind early, when Hudson's Jon Gould lit the lamp with only 12 seconds gone in the opening stanza. But Gardner settled down, and Eric O'Reilly knotted the game at one on the power play three minutes later. The Hawks regained the lead on another Gould goal. In this back and forth game, junior Tyler Robinson tied up the proceedings for the second time for Gardner.
  "We dug ourselves a hole right off the bat on Gould's first goal," said Gardner coach Jean-Guy Gagnon. "But we eventually tied it, but [Hudson] scored again, and then we came right back to get even again. But we were all over them in the second period, outshooting them 14-3, while scoring three goals."
  Tyrone Notice, Evan Wernicki and Andrew Johnson accounted for Gardner's second period goals, which as it turned out proved to be more than enough to solidify the win. Appropriately and fittingly, Gould, a senior, scored his third goal of the game in the final frame to end his high school career with a hat trick. But of course, he would rather have the win.
  "I told the kids what Marlboro coach John Butler told me before the game, and that was to enjoy the ride," Nanartowich said. "Of course, we wanted to win the state title, but like (Butler) said there are only eight (Division 3) teams left to play for the state title, and we were one of them. There are a whole lot of teams out there, who would love to be in our position.
  "Losing Christie hurt us a great deal," Nanartowich added. "He not only takes his regular shift, but he also plays on the power play and in man-down situations. And when [freshman forward] Cody Smith broke his skate also in the first period, he too was not available to us for at least seven minutes. We were surprised to be tied at two after one period."
   It was the second year in a row that Gardner has played for the regional title. They defeated Auburn in 2007.
  "It was a great game against Hudson," Gagnon said. "When we scored three times against (Hudson) in the second, it was our best period of hockey this year, because we're just not a high scoring team."
  In 24 games, Colcord and the Gardner defense had allowed only 29 goals. "Christie was a big loss for (Hudson), because he's such a great player, and you definitely don't want to see anything like that happen in a game like this," Gagnon said. "Credit our kids for playing hard throughout the entire game." Considering the team's track records, both coaches expect to be back in the hunt next year.