Wahconah Boys Turn Page, Grind Out Defensive Win
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Last spring, the Wahconah boys lacrosse team averaged more than 20 goals per game and scored in double figures in every game except an 8-7 win in the state title game.
On Sunday, Wahconah opened the 2023 season by winning on defense.
Bryce Smith made five saves, and Wahconah held West Springfield to one goal in the second half of a 10-5 win on Gene Dellea Field at Berkshire Community College.
After going into half-time with a 5-4 lead, Wahconah outscored the Terriers, 5-0, in the third quarter, a period that saw West Side win the majority of the faceoffs.
Each time the visitors earned possession, Wahconah got the ball back and did damage at the other end.
“It’s gonna happen that the ball rolls different ways sometimes,” Wahconah coach Joe O’Neill said. “I have the utmost confidence in our keeper, in our defense and in our midfielders. They play very tough, physical defense and get the ball down in the offensive end.”
Wahconah (1-0) came back from three early one-goal deficits to take its third straight win over West Side.
The Terriers’ Owen Griggs opened the scoring in the second minute, and it stayed that way until 5 minutes, 11 seconds remained in the first quarter, when Brody Calvert scored in transition for Wahconah’s first goal of the season.
Griggs scored again off a centering pass from Caleb Bradley to give West Springfield a 2-1 lead after one period.
Rylan Padelford scored the first of his four goals with an assist from John Howard to open the second quarter, but West Springfield answered to make it 3-2.
Wahconah tied it a minute later when Jacob Thomas set up Howard to make it 3-3, and Thomas gave Wahconah the lead for good with a man-up goal assisted by Devin Lagerwall midway through the second quarter.
Padelford gave Wahconah a two-goal cushion in the 21st minute, but the Terriers drew within a goal at half-time.
Noah Poirier won the draw to open the second half, and Wahconah re-established its two-goal margin moments later when Padelford set up Thomas, who made it 6-4.
Thomas went on to complete his hat trick, and Padelford scored two goals and assisted on another in the five-goal period to give Wahconah a commanding six-goal lead going to the fourth.
“We slowed it down,” Padelford said. “Our defense had long stands [in the first half], and we were trying to force it on offense going too quick. We had to give our defense a break. So once we got the ball, we were slowing it down and finding the right matchup. That’s what worked for us today.”
More often than not, the offense went through Padelford, who finished with six points. It did not take West Springfield long to start focusing its defense on the junior, one of the top returning scorers for Wahconah this spring.
“I do have a lot of pressure,” Padelford said. “I’m one of the main dodgers. But I like the pressure. Pressure’s a privilege.”
One thing Wahconah should not have to worry about is any pressure to stay on top of the heap in Division 4. O’Neill made it clear that last year’s state title run is in the rear view mirror.
“We’re a new team,” he said. “I know it’s, quote unquote ‘defending champs’ and all that stuff. But we're a new team. And every year is a new team.
“And this team in particular, because we lost a lot of guys last year. So these guys have to figure out what they are because we can’t go on what we were last year, the year before or the year before. It’s a matter of what we are this year. And we have to find that, identify it and work with that.”
Wahconah takes its next step on Saturday when it returns to BCC to host Pope Francis.