CHESHIRE, Mass. – Hoosac Valley’s boys lacrosse team opened the season with a one-goal loss at Springfield Central.
What a difference a month can make.
Owen Taylor and Neil Brierley each had a hat trick Friday to lead the Hurricanes to a 12-2 win over Central as the Hurricanes won their second straight to improve to 5-3 this spring.
“We’re a more complete team,” Hoosac Valley coach Jacob Anderson-Hall said of the turnaround from the opener. “We switched some guys’ positions, and they just play better together. It’s a lot more team play, a lot less individual play.”
Anderson-Hall said some of that disconnectedness may have played a role in Hoosac Valley’s loss to the Golden Eagles.
“I don’t think they knew who they were at that moment,” he said. “We’re at the midway point of the season, and they’re starting to jell into who they are – who they have been this whole time.”
The Hurricanes wasted no time getting the offense going on Friday.
Brady Auger scored in the first minute of the game, and the Hurricanes went on to add seven more before half-time to take an 8-0 lead into the break.
Taylor scored a couple of minutes later, and Brierley added a pair before the end of the first quarter.
Taylor scored two more, and Auger and Brierley each added a goal to make it an eight-goal margin.
Central (3-5) woke up on offense to open the second half.
Kyle Pickering scored a pair of goals just nine seconds apart to open the third quarter and cut the margin to six goals.
But it was all Hoosac Valley from there.
Corey McConnell scored midway through the third to break Central’s run, and the hosts tacked on three more goals in the fourth quarter, the last from Max Griffin in transition with just 15 seconds left to play.
The Hurricanes outshot Central, 21-4. The Eagles’ Jordan Cogbill stopped nine shots in the loss.
Hoosac Valley will look to avenge one of its other losses on Monday when it hosts Pittsfield on Shewcraft Field at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
