Defense, Jaggi Key Wahconah in Sixth Straight Win
DALTON, Mass. -- The Wahconah boys lacrosse team got off to a bit of a slow start in Saturday morning’s matinee against Pittsfield.
But once Wahconah got untracked, it was unstoppable.
Dart Jaggi scored seven goals, and Wahconah won its sixth in a row with a 14-2 victory over the Generals.
For coach Zach Sondrini’s team, it was its third win in four days and second in less than 24 hours.
But Pittsfield scored the game’s first goal and held Wahconah to just a 5-1 lead at half-time before Jaggi scored four in the third quarter to help push the margin to 13-1 with 12 minutes left.
“I expected [the slow start], and I told them that at half-time,” Sondrini said. “We just played Agawam in a tough game under the lights, and we had a 12-hour turnaround. I expected us to come out flat this morning.
“And PHS came out hungry.”
Pittsfield’s Trey Salvie won the opening faceoff, and the Generals needed just 15 seconds to convert. Salvie set up Jacob Brazeau for the goal to put Wahconah in a 1-0 hole.
Less than a minute later, Jeremy Girard set up Connor Noyes for the equalizer, and Jaggi gave his team the lead with a bounce shot just more than two minutes into the game.
Matt Mathers (two goals, three assists) and Jaggi scored before the quarter was over to make it 4-1.
Wahconah managed just one goal in the second quarter, a man-up tally by Tim Clayton in the final minute of the half to send his team to the break with a 5-1 lead.
Wahconah would have had a bigger lead at half-time but for the efforts of Pittsfield keeper Ethan Beach, who made nine of his 15 saves in the first half.
Jaggi started the second half with two goals in the first two minutes, and Wahconah was on its way, scoring eight in the third and 14 straight altogether before Mitch Stechman converted a Brazeau assist during running time to give Pittsfield its second goal.
It was just the 15th goal scored against Wahconah during its current six-game win streak. Sondrini said the key has been keeping his long-sticks on the field and out of the penalty box.
“I’m just really happy with our long poles, and Dom had some big saves today,” Sondrini said of Dom Orlandi, who made six stops. “Other teams score if our long poles get penalties because we have four really, really good long poles. If one of them gets a penalty, that’s usually when the other team is scoring.
“If we can keep our four long poles -- our three close defensemen and our long stick middie -- on the field, there’s not a lot of teams in Berkshire County that are going to be able to get by that. … If we’re a man down, and those four guys are on the field, I’m pretty confident in our man-down defense. They know how to rotate, they know where to be, they understand what the other team is doing.”
Wahconah (12-4) hosts Taconic on Monday.
Pittsfield finishes its season at 7-11.