I cannot possibly speak for what it must have been like for those participating in or in attendance for Senior Night in the Berkshires, as the MCLA Trailblazers played the last home game of their first season in two decades and conducted a wonderful sendoff ceremony for the team’s elder statesman, Nathan Walerowicz. However, my eyes were not dry going into this one. The senior from Sanborn, NY, who had spent his first three seasons of NCAA eligibility at Finlandia University, played on the first defensive pairing tonight and had an impact on facilitation of the phenomenal play with the puck we saw from the Blazers tonight, as he tallied a secondary assist on Luke Rhoss’ goal that opened the proceedings (with Easton Moore gathering the primary apple). Though the Westfield State Owls would tie the game before the first period ended and the score would not change through the second period, we saw an impressive group performance all the way up to/through the final stanza from MCLA despite the penalty troubles they faced. The team looked very good at using open space and playing with a pace atypical to what you usually see from them, while also facilitating puck movement between zones in a manner we have seen from them often. They turned this into control of possession that at times appeared comprehensive and translated into a considerable number of shots on goal, with the greatest beneficiaries being reliable goal scorers Cade Herrera and Sean Schifferl (though these two did not get on the scoresheet tonight) and two-way menace Easton Moore, who had a night to remember as he scored both the game winner and the empty net dagger for a three-point night while registering a +3 and going 15/22 at the faceoff circle. The Red Deer, Alberta native had a bit of Anze Kopitar to his game tonight, I may say. In general, however, this group deserves commendation for being very situationally and spatially aware tonight to turn the control they had into goals.

On the defensive end, the team as a whole did a fantastic job both suppressing quality shots and blocking a great number of attempts by Westfield State. As a result, standout netminder Mathew Gover had a less demanding night than he has at times been called upon for this season. However, he did quite solidly when he was he was asked of, performing at his usual standard when it comes to tracking the puck on his skates and sticking to his usual Hellebuyckian (a term I’m coining now) guns. 21/22 is a mark to be very content with.

The Blazers’ final games of the 2023-24 campaign will take place on Thursday and Saturday of next week, in the home barns of Framingham State and Worcester State, respectively. While it is sad we will not see this hot team in the postseason this year, their form should be exciting to watch as it serves to continue to disrupt the status quo in the conference. I would not be surprised if we see two more victories with their recent performance and high confidence.