WORCESTER, Mass. – Friday night’s Div. 2 state title game was a contrast in program histories. Mansfield had made major progress in the last couple seasons and was experiencing the final for the first time. On the other side, Longmeadow has been one of the state’s best teams for 50 years.

On a steamy night at Worcester State’s Coughlin Field, pedigree ended up winning out.

The Hornets were held scoreless for more than 20 minutes in the second half and the Lancers took advantage, pulling away for a 10-5 win and the program’s 22nd state title (and second in the past three years).

“They’re a seasoned team,” Mansfield coach Tim Frias said about Longmeadow. “These guys played a hell of a game but it just wasn’t our day today.”

He added, “I thought we did our jobs, but at the end of the day they won the ground balls, we threw it away one, well five, too many times, and it all comes down to you’ve got to have ball control and we didn’t have it.”

Mansfield (22-2) had the first chances of the night. Senior Cole Gibson forced a turnover to win the ball back for the Hornets, who fired a pair of shots just over the bar. Junior Cole Hogencamp had the third chance and he drew a save from Longmeadow goalie Leigh Chapman (12 saves).

The Lancers would grab the lead 90 seconds later. Max Zicchittella got free on the right side, drove to goal, and finished from close range.

Longmeadow face-off specialist Cameron Collins was dominant on Friday. He won three of the first four draws and won 14-of-19 going up against Mansfield seniors Nico Smith and Cam Sekora. The Lancers made the extra possessions count. Just 19 seconds after going in front, Longmeadow doubled its lead as Edward Hinshaw buried an overhand shot.

Mansfield started to get a foothold in the game midway through the opening quarter. Senior Tommy Vallett’s physical play in the attacking end pried the ball loose and Smith scooped the ground ball. His low-angle shot was kicked aside.

A minute later, the Hornets were on the board. Junior Max Tillman hustled to win the ball back at midfield and classmate Anthony DiIeso swung the ball to senior Andrew DeGirolamo. DeGirolamo faked a shot, drove past his marker, and scored from the edge of the crease to halve the deficit.

Freshman Will Hogencamp got free in the middle of the Longmeadow defense, but his shot was inches wide of the post. DeGirolamo would get the ball back to Hogencamp in a little space but his shot was held by Chapman.

Longmeadow got the goal back less than a minute into the second quarter. Brady LaBrie found himself some space and fired a shot into the corner. This time, it was Mansfield’s turn to answer quickly. Smith battled to win a ground ball after the face-off and he would find Cole Hogencamp for a rocket to make it 3-2.

Junior Thomas Donovan came close to tying the score when he curled from behind the cage but his shot was stopped and then DeGirolamo had a good chance smack off the bar.

Hogencamp would get the Hornets level midway through the third. He dodged from ‘X’, bullying his way to the front of the goal and firing past Chapman.

Unfortunately, momentum was short-lived. Collins won the ensuing draw and six seconds after it was tied Hinshaw put the Lancers back in front. Hinshaw would add his third of the half with 90 seconds remaining to make it 5-3.

DeGirolamo hit the post and Vallett had a close-range effort saved in the final seconds of the half. Mansfield missed another opportunity early in the third when Smith forced a turnover and in transition DeGirolamo fired a pass across the defense to Donovan, but the shot was wide.

“It was really just telling them to take a breath,” Frias said about his message at halftime. “It’s a big moment. We’re letting passes go without relaxing and just throwing it. We’re getting a little keyed up. We just had to breathe and get it to our partners.”

Longmeadow scored twice in 26 seconds to start to put the game away. Man-up, Caden Templeton picked out LaBrie for a rip just under the bar. From the face-off win, Brady Stocks got a fortunate bounce into his path and he made a nice pass to Joseph Szczepanek wide open in front of goal.

Mansfield almost got one back with a nice passing play from Vallett to DeGirolamo to Donovan, but the shot was off target. LaBrie drove through the defense to the edge of the crease but senior Zane Plante stood tall to save. Hogencamp had a late chance but his shot was blocked by Jack Sullivan.

Understandably, the Lancers slowed things up at the start of the fourth. Plante saved from a long-range Sullivan shot after four minutes and Smith had a man-up chance that was stopped on the other end.

Longmeadow started to put the game away, as Mansfield’s defense was forced to be more aggressive and take chances. Templeton, Zichittella, and Stocks scored three in a row for the Lancers to push the lead up to 10-3.

Even in the heat, Mansfield kept pushing to the end. Smith won a draw and came straight down the middle to force Chapman into a nice save. He would then hit the post on another chance before setting up Donovan on the edge of the crease for a goal with 2:24 to go.

Hogencamp completed his hat trick when he pounced on a ground ball in front of goal and scored.

Three years ago, while this year’s senior class were freshmen, Frias started talking about the potential that the Hornets would have going forward. He knew that there was talent coming into the program capable of doing something special.

Even in the disappointment of Friday night’s result (“It stings,” he admitted), Frias was proud of the new heights that the program reached in the past two seasons.

“The leadership, it started a few years ago with our captains, Drew Sacco and Ryan DeGirolamo,” he explained. “They set the tone when these guys were freshmen. It was a progression, through leadership and the team mentality.”

“It’s a privilege to coach them. It’s a privilege to get here. Hopefully we’re going to take it one more step next year.”