BELCHERTOWN ― The West Springfield girls lacrosse team is heating up at just the right time— looking every bit like a postseason contender.
The Terriers lit up the scoreboard in Friday’s blowout win over Belchertown (0-10), erupting for a season-high 22 goals to lock in their eighth victory of the year.
With six regular season games remaining and the playoffs on the horizon, West Springfield is building serious momentum — fueled by one of Western Massachusetts’s most dominant players.
Four-year varsity starter and Super 7 selection Audrey Canata has been the heartbeat of the team, once again leading the way in scoring and setting the tone in every phase of the game. The Central Connecticut State University commit delivered another standout performance Friday, racking up eight points (4 goals, 4 assists). She’s now posted at least five points in six straight games, during which the Terriers have gone 5-1.
With the dominant win over the Orioles, West Springfield improved to 8-3 on the season, with all three losses coming against regional powerhouses East Longmeadow (twice) and Longmeadow.
Still, the Terriers have shown they can respond under pressure and beat top-tier competition.
They picked up a statement 12-9 win over Grafton, the No. 9 team in Division II, just before Friday’s game. After a hard-fought loss to East Longmeadow earlier this week — where Canata tallied four goals and one assist — she once again led the bounce-back effort, finishing with four goals and two assists against Grafton.
“I think that was a big confidence booster, because it dropped them and it pulled us up,” Canata said. “So I think we’re playing really confident right now, and we’re all getting along. So, it’s going good.”
That confidence and team chemistry were on full display Friday, as the Terriers entered the game ranked No. 15 in Division II in the latest MIAA statewide rankings.
“They’ve been playing together for a long time, so I think that’s the biggest thing,” West Springfield coach Joe Canata said. “We preach moving the ball. Don’t try to do it yourself. We’re halfway through the season, so we’re starting to pick up the pace with that, and I think we’re doing a lot better with that. Sharing the ball, that’s a big thing.”
From the start of the game, the Terriers wasted no time asserting control. They won the first draw and Canata found Darby Poe (2 goals, 2 assists) for a quick goal, setting the tone for what became a relentless first-quarter surge.
Belchertown briefly responded behind Lia Pikul (4 goals), who scored back-to-back goals to tie the game 2-2. But that’s when the Terriers flipped the switch.
West Springfield answered with an 8-0 run to close the quarter, dominating possession off the draw and piling up goals in rapid succession. Canata factored into several of them—scoring, assisting, and drawing defenders — while Ainsley Kearney (3 goals, 2 assist) and Poe each added to their point totals in the surge.
As a freshman, Canata thrived as an assistor, but this season she’s embraced the role of primary scorer — powered by experience, offseason reps, and her first summer of club lacrosse.
“She’s such a phenomenal lacrosse player, and to be able to see her progression freshman year dominating to then senior year being even more dominant, it’s been incredible to progress with her as well,” Kearney said of Canata. “She’s definitely very reliable, and she honestly supports everybody, and you can always trust her to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The second quarter saw more of the same, with the Terriers keeping their foot on the gas and adding six more goals while holding Belchertown scoreless. The Terriers’ offense continued to spread the wealth, with Campbell Connelly (2 goals, 2 assists), Molly Finn (3 goals, 1 assist) and Riley Freeman (3 goals) joining the scoring surge.
Though Pikul managed to stop the bleeding with two more goals in the third, West Springfield never lost control. Freeman tallied her second and third goals of the day, while Jillian Keaugh scored on a free position shot to help the Terriers close out a 19-4 lead through three.
11 West Springfield players notched at least one goal.
“Our depth is incredible this year,” Kearney said. “We can trust any attackers on the offensive side to score, any midfielders to get back and play some awesome defense, and our defense has been huge in supporting us as well. It’s been phenomenal to have so many people a part of scoring, assisting as well.”
In the fourth, the teams traded late scores, with Belchertown’s Kenzie LePage notching a pair of goals and Paige Dias converting on a free position. But West Springfield had long since slammed the door, closing things out with three more tallies to seal the 22-7 win.
West Springfield faces a high-stakes road test tomorrow against No. 21 Whitman-Hanson in a key Division II showdown, while Belchertown will look to notch its first win of the season in a matchup with Hampshire Regional.
