Hurricanes Earn Right to Go for Three-Peat

LENOX, Mass. – Going for its third win of the year against Lenox and a return to the Western Massachusetts Class title game, the Hoosac Valley boys lacrosse team Wednesday appeared to have the game well in hand at the end of the third quarter.

 

Jayden Tatro finished the period with a goal to give the Hurricanes an 8-4 lead.

 

But Lenox rallied with two goals in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to give the Millionaires life.

 

The Hurricanes righted the ship, ending the game on a 3-0 run to take an 11-6 win and punch their ticket to a third-straight regional final.

 

The two-time defending Western Mass Champions head back to Berkshire Community College on Friday for another all-Berkshire regional title game. After beating Lenox in the 2024 final and McCann Tech last year, the Canes will take on top-seeded Mount Greylock, which advanced past Smith Voc in Wednesday’s other Class C semi-final.

 

Tatro and Cam Odvar each scored four goals, and Max Griffin made 15 saves for Hoosac Valley, which won despite seeing one of its starters ejected after committing too many penalties and despite the momentum Lenox generated when Luke Naventi scored a man-up goal with 9 minutes, 22 seconds left to play to make it 8-6.

 

“They’re a very resilient group,” Hoosac Valley coach Jacob Anderson-Hall said. “This has kind of been their season. It’s been a couple of ups and downs, but they’ve fought back every step of the way.

 

“We’ve been down, 6-2, at some points in this season, and we’ve come back and won those games. It’s a lot different than we have been in years past, where anytime we’ve been down, we’ve just shut down altogether. But these guys, they’re tough. They’re resilient.”

 

Two minutes after Naventi’s goal to make it a two-score game, Tatro fought through three defenders in front of the net and scored to give the Hurricanes a three-goal cushion.

 

With 5:25 left to play, Jackson Larabee set up Odvar to make it 10-6. And with just more than two minutes on the clock, Tatro scored with an assist from Odvar to cap the scoring.

 

Second-seeded Lenox (11-7) got two goals apiece from Naventi and Evan Love and 11 saves from Jeffrey Larmon.

 

The Hurricanes’ Griffin, who went over 500 saves in his standout career in a home win over Lenox back on April 22, once again was stellar against the Millionaires.

 

“He’s a great goalie, but, outside of that, he’s just a great leader,” Anderson-Hall said. “He’s the one that’s telling everyone where they need to be. He’s making sure everyone’s talking. And, at the end of the day, when the save needs to be made, he’s the one that makes the save.

 

“That’s how he’s been a phenomenal goalie for us his four years here. That’s just what he does.”

 

Now the Hurricanes (10-5) get to try to do what they do against Mount Greylock, a 16-5 winner when the teams met in Cheshire back on April 11.

 

“They’re gonna be tough,” Anderson-Hall said. “They’re a great team. We’ve got a big practice tomorrow, so we’ve got a lot to go over. Hopefully, we’re going to be ready.”