CHESHIRE, Mass. – Owen Taylor scored in the second minute of overtime Wednesday to give the Hoosac Valley boys lacrosse team a 9-8 win over McCann Tech.
Taylor scooped two ground balls and fired two shots on goal in the last 30 seconds of play to cap a wild game that saw three lead changes, seven ties and just one two-goal margin for either team.
“They gave me room, and I took a shot, and it just popped back out,” Taylor said. “And I ripped back into the net.”
The game-winner with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left in OT gave Taylor his second goal of the day and the Hurricanes their second win in a row after an 0-2 start.
Kaden Tatro scored four goals, including one with 1:48 left in regulation to tie it at 8-8 and force OT.
Max Griffin made 11 saves for the Hurricanes – seven in the second half.
Hoosac Valley took another step forward in a year when many of its players are still learning the game.
“A lot of these guys are in their fourth game getting quality minutes on any level of playing lacrosse,” Hoosac Valley coach Jacob Anderson-Hall said.
“They come to practice, they work hard. And there’s a lot to improve, but they are improving. They’re not coming just to come. They’re coming to play lacrosse. They’re coming in with a mindset that we’re going to win. That’s what we’re getting going right now.”
Hoosac Valley got going on Wednesday with a goal from Brady Auger to take a 1-0 lead in the second minute.
Max Morin struck for McCann Tech just six seconds later, and it looked like the teams were headed for a shootout.
But the offenses ground to a halt from there, and Tatro’s tally late in the first quarter gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead after one.
Max Griffin made 11 saves to earn the win goal. Brody Rhinemiller stopped eight for the Hornets.
The Hornets scored twice to start the second quarter, taking a 3-2 lead on Lucan McGrath’s goal midway through the quarter. And it was a 4-3 McCann Tech lead at half-tiime.
The visitors then took the game’s biggest lead when Morin fired home a laser from the top of the box to put his team ahead, 5-3, with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
But Hoosac Valley got goals from Jayden Tatro and Kaden Tatro to tie the game, 5-5, heading to the fourth.
Both offenses finally got untracked in that fourth quarter as the teams combined for six scores.
Kaden Tatro had two of those goals, including the final score of regulation.
“He’s an integral part of this win,” Anderson-Hall said. “A high motor, right? He just wants it, and you can see that. And he’s one of those guys – it’s his fourth lacrosse game playing. That doesn’t matter to him, he just wants to win. He goes out and gets it done any way he can.”
The winning sequence in OT started with a Taylor scoop outside the box. He carried it into the middle of the defense and then stepped out to settle things down. He then drove toward the goal and fired an overhand shot that Rhinemiller saved.
Both teams struggled to get the ground ball on the rebound before Taylor was able to scoop and score to end the game.
For the young Hornets, it was a second straight 9-8 loss to a county foe after opening the season with a pair of wins.
“I just told the guys: We’re sitting here at 2-2, and we’re two goals away from 4-0,” McCann Tech coach Marshall Maxwell said. “If we’re 4-0, we’re cruising and we’re heading to a big game against Lenox. That’s the difference between 4-0 and 2-2 at this point.
“Our guys are continuing to grow. We’ve got 14 sophomores. We start six. Our goalie, that was his third start ever playing goalie at any level. He was a baseball player last year. So, we still have young guys, and when you have young guys, you’re going to have inconsistent play. And some of our older guys never played lacrosse, and they’re key contributors on the team defensively.”
McCann Tech will look to get back in the win column when it travels to Lenox on Monday. Hoosac Valley (2-2) goes to Granby on Tuesday.
