Berkshire County's Girls Lacrosse All-Stars Get Together at Hoosac Valley

CHESHIRE, Mass. -- It was all-star high school lacrosse at Hoosac Valley High School on Monday night.

 

So the fast breaks were not quite as fast. And the defense wasn’t quite as tight.

 

But the shots hurt just as much.

 

“I said ‘Ow,’ a couple of times just because it wasn’t as serious, and it was still fun,” Mount Greylock keeper Jayden Johnson said after playing the full 50 minutes of an 11-6 win for her team, the Light Blue.

 

“I like playing in the goal. So it still hurt, and I’d be like, ‘Ow,’ but I was having a good time.”

 

Just more than a week ago, Johnson came up huge on this same field, backstopping the Mounties to an overtime win over Hoosac Valley in the Central/Western Massachusetts tournament. She followed that up with seven saves in a come-from-behind win on the road in the sectional semi-final.

 

Johnson was solid again on Tuesday, although the stakes were not quite as high.

 

If they gave an MVP award for the annual all-star game, she would have been a contender for it after making 10 saves in the victory.

 

Mount Greylock’s Talia Cappadona and Wahconah’s Grace Calvert also would have been in the running after each recorded a hat trick for the Blue team.

 

The Orange also got 10 saves, from the goalie tandem of Wahconah’s Sydney Smith and Hoosac’s Emily Godfrey.

 

Pittsfield’s Sierra Murray scored twice for the Orange, which got a goal apiece from Wahconah’s Chloe Accardi, Hoosac Valley’s Chloe Martel and Brooke DiGennaro and Mount Greylock’s Clare Sheedy.

 

The coaches mix up players from the county’s five high school programs for the all-star game, a format that adds to the fun, Johnson said.

 

“It was definitely funny to see our attack coming down to my end because I know how hard they shoot in practice,” Johnson said.

 

“It’s definitely a shift playing with the players from the other teams who are usually the ‘enemy.’ Now, we’re all working together. But I think it’s definitely a good experience to keep the Berkshire County teams close and not pitted against each other all the time. It’s a healthy thing to bring us together like this.”

 

The Orange squad jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on goals by Murray, DiGennaro and Accardi in the first 12 minutes.

 

Blue’s Calvert got her team on the board with an assist from Hoosac’s Cairagan Greene to start a 4-0 run to half-time.

 

Cappadona scored the tying goal and go-ahead goal with about four minutes left in the half.

 

Wahconah’s Jilly Cote then stretched that lead by scoring off a ground ball in the second minute of the second half to make it 5-3.

 

But Orange had an answer, getting goals from Sheedy, Martel and Murray to take a 6-5 lead in the 34th minute.

 

Cappadona tied it five minutes later, touching off a 6-0 run for the Blue to end the game. Hoosac’s Kelsey Bulson, Pittsfield’s Maleah Spears-Brown and Greene each scored a goal to get the margin to 9-6. Calvert scored the last two -- the second with an assist from Hoosac Valley’s Faith Hall in transition.

 

A few players who were invited to the game were unable to attend the event, rescheduled from Sunday evening due to rain.

 

The Blue roster included: Madi Naef, Ashley Barnes, Sydney Hover, Jilly Cote, Maleah Spears-Brown, Jayden Johnson, Faith Hall, Alie Mendel, Kelsey Bulson, Cairagan Greene, Grace Calvert, Delaney Babcock, Talia Cappadona and Brooke Phelps.

 

The Orange roster included: Sydney Smith, Jayla Spears, Ann Macchi, Sierra Murray, Chloe Accardi, Kyla Rivest, Hannah Bowlby, Brook Masse, Clare Sheedy, Lauren Davis, Claudia Bresett, Paige Barrow, Brooke DiGennaro, Chloe Martel, Claire Naef, Emma Stevens and Emily Godfrey.