McCann Tech Falls to Belchertown in OT

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Belchertown boys lacrosse team scored six seconds into overtime to hand McCann Tech a 7-6 loss on Tuesday evening.

 

But the Orioles could not take away the pride the Hornets felt after going toe-to-toe with a team that beat McCann, 11-2, back on April 11.

 

“Even though it’s a loss, and, you know, it stinks, it feels bad to lose in overtime, to battle back like that … it doesn’t feel like a loss as much,” Hornets coach Paul Lange said.

 

Zavier Martin-Levesque and David Delisle scored in the final minute of regulation to force OT after Belchertown opened the fourth quarter with three straight goals to erase a 4-3 McCann Tech lead.

 

Martin-Levesque converted an assist from Darius Tovani with 1 minute on the clock at MCLA’s Shewcraft Field to draw the Hornets within a goal at 6-5.

 

Delisle then won the ensuing faceoff, giving McCann Tech an opportunity for the equalizer.

 

Its chances went up when an Oriole was whistled for a slash with 49 seconds left. And with 28.5 seconds remaining, Desisle scored a man-up goal to tie it.

 

Belchertown got the ball back on the faceoff, but Keegan Dellaghelfa made the last of his 14 saves in the closing moments to preserve the tie.

 

But in a theme that recurred throughout the game, Belchertown scored the first -- and, it being sudden death -- only goal of the OT period.

 

Ben Laliberte won the faceoff and raced all the way to the goal for the unassisted transition tally that ended it.

 

Belchertown started strong in three of the four regulation quarters, scoring in the first or second minute of each in an otherwise low-scoring affair.

 

It was 2-1, McCann Tech at half-time after Darian Tovani scored a pair of first-half goals.

 

Lalibertie’s goal 1:36 into the second half tied it, and the Orioles went back on top before Darian Tovani set up Colby Ghidotti an Delisle to give the Hornets a 4-3 lead going to the fourth.

 

Although McCann Tech (8-6) just missed on a chance to qualify for the Central/Western Massachusetts tournament for the second year in a row, Tuesday’s game was the latest in a recent run of strong performances. The Hornets are 5-2 in their last seven games with both losses coming by a goal -- both of those against teams that blew out McCann Tech the first time the teams played.

 

“We’ve come a long way,” Lange said of a team that started the year 3-4. “I mean, we started the season with half the team that or freshmen or who had never picked up a stick before.

 

“To go from whatever the score was the last time [against Belchertown] to losing in overtime, that’s huge. That’s a huge change. These kids work hard every day.”

 

McCann Tech will host Pathfinder on Thursday before hosting Lee on Friday in another rematch from earlier this season. On April 25, the Wildcats earned a 19-1 decision against the Hornets down in Lee.