Hurricanes Take Round Two from Lenox

LENOX, Mass. – Jayden Tatro scored five goals, and the Hoosac Valley boys lacrosse team Monday outscored Lenox, 5-1, down the stretch to earn a 13-9 win and a season sweep of the Millionaires.

 

Max Griffin made seven saves, and Cam Odvar scored four times for the Hurricanes, who got three goals and three assists from Kamarion Kastner.

 

Hoosac Valley looked like it would put away its Pioneer League rival early when it opened with a 6-0 run that was capped by Tatro with two goals to start the second quarter.

 

But Lenox fought back, tying the game with 1 minute, 26 seconds left in the third when William Mairo set up Milo Davis (four goals) to make it 8-8.

 

But with 17 seconds left in the period, Tatro scored the game-winner, touching off a 4-0 Hoosac Valley run that ended when Jackson Larabee set up Tatro in transition midway through the fourth quarter to make it 12-8.

 

“Coach gave us a big speech over there that made us all lock in,” Tatro said of Hoosac Valley’s bounceback after Lenox tied it. “We had our heads down a little bit, and then it picked us up and we started rolling.”

 

And, after giving up seven Lenox goals in about 18 minutes of game time, Hoosac Valley’s defense tightened up.

 

“My boy, Johnny [Lyons], he was cooking,” Tatro said of the Hurricanes’ defender. “I love my defenders. They always have our backs. Big hits and then let us all do our thing.”

 

Larabee set up three goals in a row to start the fourth quarter, finding Tatro twice and Odvar once to make it 12-4.

 

With about five minutes left to play, Lenox’s Mairo intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and raced the other way for a transition goal to give the Millionaires some hope.

 

But with 1:34 left in regulation, Lenox took a one-minute and 30-second penalty in the same sequence, allowing Hoosac Valley to potentially run out the clock with a man advantage. Then, three seconds later, another Lenox player drew 1:30 in penalty time, putting the hosts down two players for the rest of the game.

 

Odvar scored with 20 seconds on the clock to cap the scoring on a play that saw Lenox take yet another one-minute penalty.

 

The closing moments were reminiscent of the first quarter, when Hoosac Valley scored three goals with a man advantage en route to its big early lead.

 

After that stretch – and before the waning moments of the game, Lenox managed to avoid penalties for the most part, allowing it to get back into the game.

 

“The coaches talked a little bit, but this is the seniors’ day, so they did a lot of talking,” Lenox coach Sean Soper said. “They reeled all the guys in. We told them, we’ve got to stop the penalties and play them 6-v-6. I feel like when we weren’t in the penalty box and played them 6-v-6, we were great.”

 

As usual, Jeffrey Larmon was great for Lenox, stopping 16 saves on a night he was celebrated both as a senior and for having made his 800th career save one game earlier on the road at Belchertown.

 

“I was able to play in high school and college, and out of the goalies I’ve seen, he’s one of the best,” Soper said. “He saves all the shots he should save, and then there’s the shots that are point blank that he saves with his leg or his hand. He’s a hell of a player.”

 

Lenox (10-5) continues a busy week on Wednesday when it goes to Wahconah before coming home to face East Longmeadow on Saturday afternoon.

 

Hoosac Valley finishes the regular season 9-5 and waits for this weekend’s announcement of the bracket for the Western Mass Class C Tournament, where it likely will face Lenox for a third time this spring in the regional semi-finals.

 

Photos from this game to come.