Waterman, Meczywor Lead Hoosac to Convincing Win, Perfect Record
CHESHIRE, Mass. – The first time the Hoosac Valley boys lacrosse team took on Lenox, it came down to the final moments as the Hurricanes survived with a two-goal win.
In Monday’s rematch, Hoosac Valley took control midway through the first quarter and cruised to an 18-7 win.
Luke Waterman scored eight goals and set up four more, and Carson Meczywork had seven goals and four assists as the ‘Canes improved to 15-0 with one game left in the regular season.
“I think the first game, we just came out really slow and didn’t really know what to expect,” Meczywor said. “And after playing that first time, we kind of knew what they had and knew the intensity we had to come with.
“So I think that first half, we came out strong and put it to them.”
The Hurricanes also came out with the momentum gained from last Thursday’s 13-12 overtime win over South Hadley, a game that saw Hoosac Valley overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minutes to force OT.
“That was a big win for us,” Hoosac Valley coach Jacob Anderson-Hall said. “To win it in overtime, that shows us we can compete with these guys. I think that was huge for them.”
Lenox (13-2) started strong with goals from Shaler Larmon and Donny Bowler to take a 2-1 lead in the first seven minutes.
But Waterman scored his second goal of the game with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the quarter to tie it, and he scored again a minute later with the man advantage to give Hoosac Valley a 3-2 lead it never relinquished.
All three of Waterman’s first-quarter goals were assisted by Meczywor. Twelve of the Hurricanes’ 18 goals were assisted in the win.
“We played as a team,” Anderson-Hall said when asked the difference between Monday and the first go-around against the Millionaires. “We were looking for that next pass. I think early in the season, we were all just kind of looking to set ourselves up … they all wanted to get their points.
“But [now], they’re all looking for their next teammate, their next friend to get that goal for us.”
Meczywork’s first goal of the game stretched the lead to 4-2 in the last minute of the first quarter, and Waterman had two goals and two assists in the second quarter to push the margin to six goals before Frederick Eustis scored on the man advantage just before half-time.
Hoosac Valley outscored Lenox, 6-1, in the third quarter to go ahead by 10 goals on a Meczywor goal set up by Waterman.
Neil Brierly scored two goals for Hoosac Valley, and Cam Taylor added a goal.
Will Broadwell and Matt Tassone combined to make 10 saves in the win in goal.
Jeffrey Larmon stopped six shots for Lenox, which hosts St. Mary’s on Wednesday.
Hoosac Valley goes to St. Mary’s on Tuesday and Smith Voc on Wednesday.
After a busy week, the Canes will be on to the Western Massachusetts Class B tournament, where they could collide with powerhouse Wahconah, which took its first loss of the season on Monday against Class A Longmeadow.
“We’ve just got to go into it with whatever we’ve got,” said Meczywor. “We don’t know what to expect or who we’re going to play. We’ve just got to be ready for whoever.”