CHICOPEE, Mass. -- Alyssa Kelly scored on a free position with a minute and a half left to complete a come-from-behind, 9-8 victory for the Lee girls lacrosse team in the preliminary round of the Central/Western Mass Division 3 tournament on Monday.

 

Chicopee (7-8-2) led by two goals at half-time, but the Wildcats (9-8) decided they were not going to be denied.

 

"They knew what was happening, they knew it was the last game for the seniors, and they decided they were going to get it done," Lee coach Dave Galisa said.

 

Lee also was able to make an adjustment to the astroturf field, which changes the play on ground balls, and they took a different approach against Chicopee goalie Nadia Miller.

 

That different approach paid dividends on Kelly's game-winner.

 

"She went in left-handed and shot high," Galisa said. "We had been talking at half-time and noticed she was very good at low shots. We wanted to test her on high shots.

 

"When [Kelly] went for that one, I'm sure she was thinking, 'I'm going to to do it."

 

Kelly scored a game-high five goals. Mikayla DeSantis scored two, and Emma Bartini and Meryl Phair each had a goal for the Wildcats, who got seven saves from Liz Consolati.

 

Lee moves on to the round of 16, where it will face top-seeded Bromfield (16-1-1) on a day to be announced.

 

"It's going to be quite a trip," Galisa said. "The experience, for some of the kids, I think will be great for them. The intensity level is so much higher in the playoffs than it is in the regular season."