PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- For eight minutes at the start of the second half Tuesday night, the Lenox girls soccer team had all the momentum in the world and several strong chances to get back in the game.
Moments later, West Boylston scored to turn their two-goal lead into an insurmountable three-goal margin en route to a 4-0 win in the Division 5 State Tournament octo-finals.
"I think that completely took the wind out of our sails," Lenox coach Brian Seminara said. "We had shot after shot, opportunity after opportunity. It just didn't go in.
"They took one shot, and it went in. I think it just deflated everyone, and we weren't quite able to get that energy back."
Rhiann Dugan, who assisted on the game-winner late in the first half, scored both insurance goals in the second for the Lions, who moved on to face Palmer on Saturday in the state quarter-finals.
"That was huge," West Boylston coach Scott Coderre said. "One thing we talked about all year is any 2-0 lead is never really safe and to play every second half like it's 0-0. And these girls did exactly that.
"[Lenox] had a lot of pressure on us. They are a very good team. They have four or five very dangerous players that we looked to keep an eye on. We looked to counter, and we got one, and I think that helped swing momentum back our way for the second half."
The visitors on the neutral turf at Berkshire Community College took control of a back-and-forth game late in the first half.
Dugan set up Kara Wattu for the eventual game-winner in the 33rd minute.
One minute, one second later, the Lions found the back of the net again.
"We made some slight adjustments, just moving some players around, trying to check to the ball a little more," Coderre said of the late half surge. "We too direct trying to go right up the middle of the field the whole time. We were getting tired, so we started checking back to the ball a little bit more, and things opened up."
Lenox made its own adjustments at half-time, getting three shots on goal and a couple of other dangerous looks in the first eight minutes.
But in the 50th minute, Dugan scored from about 25 yards with a low liner past Ella Hall, who was screened but made a diving effort to just miss the ball as it snuck inside the post.
The back-breaker was all the Lions needed to take control of the contest. Lenox got into the final third a few more times but never again seriously threatened.
"The clock is no longer your friend," Seminara said of trying to overcome a three-goal deficit. "So we get to this point where we got a little riskier to try to put a little more offensive pressure -- trying to take some more chances.
"Once it's 3-0, you've got to roll the dice. And good teams like West Boylston are able to counter like they did."
Dugan finished the scoring with an assist from Maddie Pitro with about six minutes left to play.
Although the upset loss for the sixth-seeded Millionaires stung, it could not dim the accomplishment of earning that seed.
"Our numbers are the lowest they've been in years," Seminara said. "Our actual varsity squad is 14 kids, and on any given day, three or four of them are half playing injured. Our starting keeper right now has a broken hand and a healing toe, which is why she ducked out a little in the game.
"With low numbers, low subs, the grind was wearing us down a little. But we're very proud of what we did. We finished the season at 14-6-1, and in the last 16 years, the most wins any Lenox team has had is 15. So we're one win shy of tying a 16-year record, which kind of shows where we're at."
