Goal in Closing Seconds Gives Wahconah Redemption, League Title

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – If the Western Massachusetts Class C Tournament seedings hold, the Mount Greylock and Wahconah girls lacrosse teams will have one more meeting this spring in the regional final.

 

They can only hope the teams’ third meeting will match the excitement of the first two.

 

Gianna Heilbroun converted a free position shot with 3 seconds left on the clock Thursday to give Wahconah an 11-10 win over the Mounties.

 

The victory avenged a 9-8 loss to Mount Greylock back on April 13 and gave Wahconah the Valley League Championship.

 

It also kept the longtime Berkshire County rivals on track to be seeded first and second by a wide margin over the bottom half of the four-team Western Mass tournament.

 

And after two epic, back-and-forth battles that came down to the wire in the regular season, Round 3 promises to be a beauty.

 

Heilbroun capped a beautiful evening for her team on Thursday with her first goal of the game after she was awarded the free position with five seconds remaining in a tied contest.

 

“I don’t know,” she said when asked what went through her mind when the shot was awarded. “It was kind of a tough shot from that angle, and I just took it.”

 

The goal, with three seconds left, set off a wild celebration by the Wahconah players on the field, who regrouped for the largely pro forma draw that allowed the clock to run out and the real celebration to begin.

 

Danielle Hagmaier scored four goals, and Brooke Harrington finished with two goals and three assists to lead Wahconah offensively. Mya Lee stopped six shots, including three in the fourth quarter, to earn the win between the pipes.

 

Reese Raymond had a hat trick for Mount Greylock, which got two goals apiece from Adele Low and Mimi Art. Teigan Brady finished with 11 saves in the Mounties’ goal.

 

Neither team led by more than two goals.

 

Wahconah’s Hagmaier scored three straight goals to cap the first quarter and give her team a 3-1 lead.

 

Mount Greylock came back to tie it early in the second on a free position goal by Lagerwall, and the teams traded goals from there to half-time. Low put the Mounties ahead, 6-5, with 1:07 left in the second quarter with an assist from Molly Cangelosi, and Lee made a save for Wahconah at the buzzer to keep it a one-goal margin at half-time.

 

Raymond put Mount Greylock ahead by two with the first goal of the second half, but midway through the third quarter, a Mountie drew a yellow card, putting her team down a player for two minutes.

 

Wahconah took advantage, getting goals from Mia Thomas, Harrington and Chloe DiFazio in a span of 1:20 seconds to erase a two-goal deficit and take an 8-7 lead.

 

With two seconds left in the third, Thomas converted a free position for her second goal of the game and a 10-9 Wahconah lead.

 

After combining for 19 goals in the first 36 minutes, the teams’ defenses and goalies took over the game in the fourth quarter.

 

With 7:28 left to play, Lee made a save on a free position to keep Wahconah ahead. At the other end, Brady stymied Thomas on an in-close opportunity from the left wing moments later. With 4:28 left, Brady made a save on a free position to keep her team within one.

 

“Give it to Greylock, they’re good,” Wahconah coach Kathy Budaj said. “Teigan in goal was amazing. … And Maya did an amazing job. She has come so far this year, she really has. She has been a great backstop for us, because, after losing Phayln [Renderer] last year, she stopped up from JV, and she’s done a phenomenal job.”

 

Finally, with 1:32 on the clock, Cangelosi scored for Mount Greylock to tie the game.

 

Wahconah won the ensuing draw, but the Mounties got the ball back when Wahconah was whistled for an illegal pick. With about 1 minute on the clock, Mount Greylock committed a turnover in midfield, and Wahconah (14-2) called timeout with 58 seconds left to set up its final possession.

 

Heilbroun ended up taking a pass from Thomas as the clock wound down and filing a shot from low on the right wing. The ball found the net, but a whistle just before the shot negated the goal and put the ball back on Heilbroun’s stick for the restart.

 

“I knew she could do it,” Budaj said. “We’ve been practicing. She has a rocket of a shot. She knows how to place it. And she was a defender last year, and now we’ve moved her to midi, and she’s rocking it.”

 

Despite the loss that left his team a game back in the final league standings, Mount Greylock coach Jeff Stripp knew that his Mounties (11-4) were rocking for much of the game and most of the spring.

 

And when two talented rivals collide with a title on the line – as they might again next week – it’s a delight for the fans.

 

“Did you enjoy the game?” Stripp asked reporters before they had a chance to ask him any questions. “We should have charged [admission].

 

“In games like this, when it comes down to the wire with lead changes and ties and all that kind of stuff, there’s a lot you can look at as far as turnovers and possessions and think through it or overthink it. I just think it was two good teams battling it out.”