McCann Tech Wins Third Straight
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Ten days earlier, the McCann Tech boys lacrosse team suffered its worst defeat of the season and fell below the .500 mark after a 14-0 thrashing from Hoosac Valley.
On Monday, the Hornets got four goals from Jason Knapp and 16 saves from Rylie Fortini to earn an 11-7 win over Monson – McCann Tech’s third straight win to push its record to 5-3.
“We were in a knock down, drag out game against Lenox the night before [Hoosac], and we left everything we had on the field,” McCann Tech coach Marshall Maxwell said. “And Hoosac is a very talented team. They play a physical brand of lacrosse. It was hard for us to get our feet underneath us.
“But then we had a few games, and you’re starting to see it. Lucan McGrath, we took him from behind the net and put him up top. And he’s got a cannon for a shot. He’s been filling it up for us the last three games.”
McGrath had a hat trick on Monday.
The Hornets got goals from six different players – in contrast with the Mustangs, who got six of their seven goals from Nick Disanti.
Knapp drove the offense early with two goals and two assists in a 4-1 first quarter.
He scored the game’s first goal and then set up Evan Fortini to give McCann Tech a 2-0 lead before DiSanti was able to score in transition to get the Mustangs on the board.
The Hornets then went on a 5-0 run that featured four different players. Sam McGrath, Max Morin and Lucan McGrath scored along with Knapp to make it 7-1 late in the half.
DiSanti scored a man-up goal with a low, line drive shot from the top of the box just before half-time, and Monson went on to a 3-0 run that stretched into the third quarter and ended with another DiSanti goal in transition to make it a three-goal margin.
Lucan McGrath stopped the run with a goal assisted by Morin, igniting a 3-0 McCann run. Parker Hart and Lucan McGrath scored man-up goals to send the Hornets to the fourth quarter with a 10-4 lead.
Monson scored three straight to start the fourth, but Knapp found the back of the net one more time to end the Mustangs’ momentum.
Fortini also played a big role in stopping Monson from cutting deeper into that lead. He made five of his 16 stops in the fourth quarter.
“Thank God for Rylie Fortini,” Maxwell said. “I think he’s one of the best goalies in Western Mass. And he kept us in the game. [DiSanti] for Monson has an absolute cannon for a shot. He went sidearm with that shot off the wing, and before you knew it, it was in the back of the net. He had some very quality shots on us today, and Rylie made some big saves.”
McCann Tech gets three days off to get ready for Friday’s home game against Smith Vocational, who the Hornets beat, 14-1, the first time they met in Northampton back on April 7.