Class B girls lacrosse: Makayla Fydenkevez nets 100th goal, Northampton captures WMass title in dominant fashion (PHOTOS)

WEST SPRINGFIELD – It’s been full steam ahead for the Northampton girls lacrosse team over the last month and on Tuesday, the Blue Devils put a bow on their pre-state tournament slate by capturing the Western Massachusetts Class B title.

Top-seeded Northampton maneuvered past No. 3 Mount Greylock with an imposing 16-9 victory at Clark Field.

The Blue Devils upped their winning streak to 13 consecutive games following the win against the Mounties (6-12) and haven’t suffered a loss since April 24 against Wahconah. Against Mount Greylock, Makayla Fydenkevez was the offensive catalyst for Northampton, scoring a team-high five goals, including the 100th of her career during the third quarter on the Blue Devils’ 12th tuck of the contest.

“I’m just super happy,” Fydenkevez said. “I got to watch my teammates achieve this goal and seeing them do it, I really wanted to [follow] in their footsteps, because I was super proud of them and I knew that they would be super supportive of me throughout my career.”

Fydenkevez finished with a couple of helpers for seven points following the final whistle, counting as one of four Blue Devils players to tally at least two points in the Western Mass. final.

“We have a great team and you saw a lot of different people score today,” Northampton head coach Ousmane Power-Greene said. “We have some great players too and it really does show the work [Fydenkevez] puts in to get there. Her doing that this year really is not really all that surprising to us, who have watched her come up through the youth league and been able to work on her game.”

Imanni Power-Greene paced the Blue Devils with eight points (three goals, five assists) while Kaydence Braman (two goals) and Jenna Talbot (goal, assist) joined Fydenkevez as multiple point-getters for Northampton.

It was all systems go right from the opening draw for the Blue Devils as they scored the game’s first five goals and forced the Mounties to chase the rest of the outing. A sizable, 11-3, lead at halftime was the result of a near flawless first 24 minutes on the turf from Northampton.

“Our strategy going into this one was to start really, really strong because sometimes we struggle with that,” Fydenkevez said. “We all really just wanted this, we all brought the energy and we all were super unselfish and passed the ball really nicely to make sure that we got that big lead.”

Mount Greylock made a push during the second half by outscoring the Blue Devils 6-5 across the last two quarters, but the gap was too large to overcome as Northampton held on for its third victory against the Mounties this season.

“The thing about Mount Greylock is they’re a really disciplined team on offense and they take advantage of your weaknesses,” Power-Greene said on if seeing a team for a third time is advantageous from a preparation standpoint. “As we watched film, we saw them taking advantage of things so it was tough. Offensively, we knew that we needed to get people that have been successful feeding and catching and scoring, we knew we needed to get the ball to them and we play the same zone they play. We’re used to it, they’re used to us.”

Ainsley Dawson didn’t see much action in this one as the Blue Devils goalie turned aside four of the Mounties’ 13 shots. On the other hand, Liv Eakin was peppered by Northampton as Mount Greylock’s netminder made 12 saves in the defeat.

The Blue Devils will quickly turn their attention toward the MIAA state tournament later this week, but not without soaking in the feelings that come with their first piece of hardware they’ve earned this postseason.

“It feels fantastic,” Power-Greene said. “The girls worked hard, offseason, all season, to get here and it ultimately always shows in the game with the grit and with the hard work and effort. I’m really proud of them.”

Only two teams have more wins than the Blue Devils (17-2) across all of Massachusetts (Westwood, Walpole).

“I think we’re really excited to have a higher ranking and maybe have a better chance of making it into the second round,” Fydenkevez said. “I think we’re really excited to continue our season because we have a really good team this year.”