CHESHIRE, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley girls lacrosse team earned its first win of the season Monday afternoon in a 15-14 nail-biter over Lee.

 

The Hurricanes opened the scoring in the first five minutes with a shot from Sara Tomkiewicz, but Lee answered less than a minute later after Hoosac goalie Monica Vallieres attempted to send a pass to her teammate and Mikayla Desantis for Lee stepped in front of it tying the score at 1-1.

 

Tomkiewicz put in another for Hoosac after a scramble in front of the net going ahead 2-1, giving Hoosac a boost that led to eight more in the first half.

 

Holly Cadran scored four for Hoosac in the first, Aubrey Rumbolt put in three, and Allie Mendal had one; putting them ahead 10-6 at half.

 

Desantis had three more for Lee in the first, Alyssa Kelly had one, and Meryl Phair had one.

 

"This was definitely a game of two halves," Hoosac coach Molly Meczywor said. "I thought we dominated the first half and give Lee credit they came out and did a really good job of pressuring us in the second."

 

Lee outshot Hoosac in the second half and outscored the 'Canes, 8-5. In the final three minutes of the game the Wildcats put in three goals, the third came off a Hoosac penalty and made it a one-goal game.

 

The Hurricanes were able to hold Lee in the final minute to prevent them from tying, giving them the victory.

 

"The fouls killed us in the second half, we made some silly mistakes trying to defend with the stick instead of our feet which caused us to have a bad check," Meczywor said. "I'm really proud of them in terms of being able to finish it, in the past we've gotten close to teams and we unraveled."

 

Kelley have six of Lee's eight goals in the second half to give her seven for the game.

 

Claudia Bressett had two for Hoosac, Mendal had one, and Cadran had one; giving her five total for the game and a team high.

 

"Our veterans, Allie Mendal, Holly Cadran, and Aubrey Rumbolt did really good things offensively," Meczywor said. "We moved the ball way better than we did all last season and the start of this season, so this is a good feeling, it's a good start for us."

 

Hoosac takes on Mount Greylock Wednesday afternoon, who they faced in the beginning of the season with a 20-6 loss.

 

"We've definitely shown a great deal of improvement, playing them first really helped us to kind of step up our mentality," Meczywor said. "If we can play with them then we can play with anybody."

 

Lee hosts Monson Wednesday at 4 p.m.