By Jareem Garvin
On a chilly afternoon, Chicopee’s Boys lacrosse team wanted to show their appreciation to their seniors on May 5th, 2022. Chicopee was about to go up against a team that they knew was going to be a battle. Westfield had one thing in mind, that was to ruin Chicopee's senior night.
The first quarter was quiet and the crowd didn’t seem too interested in cheering and hyping up the seniors that were playing. Chicopee started off explosive, and tried to get a shot within the first 5 minutes of the game. Westfields goalie Aaron Hooben, knew that the offense was a really good set of players and he was constantly on his toes. When the first shot was taken the Westfield goalie saved it and made a beautiful clear to his teammates. Westfield tried to push the ball on offense, when they realized the Pacers defense wasn’t completely set up. As a shot was taken, Chicopee's goalie Devin Hammon was ready and made a save to match the one that Westfield had. As he trapped the ball within his net, the Chicopee fans started cheering and you can instantly see the difference in the way the Chicopee players started to play. They pushed the ball down the field leading to a goal. Westfield responded to this with a goal of their own. The goalies went off to show their skills by a series or saves, and Kraig Geissler, ended off the first quarter with a goal from an assist from his teammate.
The second quarter sounded louder, and the Chicopee boys were feeling a little momentum. Trey Terlik started the boys off with a goal early on putting the boys up 2 goals. Westfield started to play more aggressively, and the result of this led to them having 2 players in the penalty box. Chicopee could’t convert when they had the number advantage and Westfield managed to hold on while they were missing 2 people. When Westfield got their players back on the field they played tough defense and didn’t let a goal go in. They then proceeded to score 2 goals back to back leading to them tying the game 3-3. Chicopee wasn’t too happy with the second goal and called a time out. They made a plan and executed it really quickly. They wanted to move the ball around and find an open man to take a shot. They went to their faithful attack man Trey Terlik who cut from behind the goal, behind defenders and ripped a side arm shot into the net. The pacers played great defense not allowing any easy shots, but in the last seconds of the quarter, Westfield got a shot in on Chicopee, tying the game up once again.
Chicopee tried to switch their defensive plan. They moved from a zone into a man on man play style, and Westfield took advantage of this. Westfield used agility and quickness to get the Chicopee players to move around. Westfield had their players cutting and setting screens leading to 5 goals in the beginning of the third quarter. They had a lot of momentum and you could see the frustration of the chicopee players when playing. Luke helped bring the pacers back by scoring a goal off of a transition play. Dylan saw that his team wasn't giving up so neither was he and he scored a goal to top off the quarter.
Dylan and Luke went into the fourth quarter with chemistry. They got the team to just keep moving the ball until they can find an opening. Dylan sets a screen and rolls out behind the goal as Trey runs around the screen then dishes the ball out to dylan. Dylan then saw Luke cut through the middle and passed the ball to him leading to a goal. Luke wasn’t finished. He got the ball on offense, drew all the defenders, kept his balance and got the ball to his teammate leading to another goal. Westfield made sure to stay into the game, starting with Aaron getting 2 saves and scoring to polish off the game with only 2 minutes left. Chicopee deals with an upsetting night sending their seniors off with an upsetting night, but they knew that it was going to be a tough game. Chicopee boys go off to prepare for their next game in Northampton against the devils.
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