Ilana Kofman posts 9 points, No. 1 Longmeadow girls lax advances to West-Central D-I championship with win over No. 4 Shrewsbury (photos)

LONGMEADOW — Senior or freshman, starter or reserve, attacker or defender — the expectations remain the same for every individual on the No.1  Longmeadow girls lacrosse team.

But, if there was ever a season for the Lancers to be hindered by a “bridge year," it would have to be in 2018, right?

With just three seniors on the roster and without the services of program stalwarts like Hannah Valencia, Allison Tetreault, Claire Fitzpatrick and Courtney Barrett, the Lancers were going to have to defend their reign over the West-Central field with a slew of juniors and sophomores.

But what the 2018 Lancers might lack in years, they more than

for in terms of talent and poise.

“I feel like that’s the nature of Longmeadow lacrosse — everyone kind of steps up,” junior Kay Conway said. “Having such great leaders that graduated, we just go step into their footsteps, because we know we have to. We need to keep that legacy going.”

The roster might be a bit younger, but the results remained the same for Longmeadow in the Central-West Division I semifinal against No. 4 Shrewsbury Tuesday.

Behind a nine-point effort from star sophomore Ilana Kofman (five goals, four assists), the Lancers built an early lead and did not look back, posting a 20-7 win over the Colonials and punching a ticket back into the West-Central Division I championship.

With the win, the Lancers (17-2) will take on No. 2 Minnechaug in the title game, with a date yet to be determined. Longmeadow will look to capture its 17th straight regional crown.

In total, underclassmen accounted for 11 of the Lancers’ 20 goals in the victory, while Henna Brennan led the way for the juniors with a six-point (five goals, one assist) effort.

“From the beginning, I think everyone just rose up to expectations,” Kofman said of the Lancers’ younger players.  “Even though we’re all young, we all play like we’re juniors and seniors. … Since we lost so many seniors last year, all of us have had to fill in the shoes of players like Claire and Courtney Barrett. I think we’ve all done a really good job of that.”

The Lancers jumped out early — with Kofman and Brennan serving as the opening salvo with a pair of strikes in the first 25 seconds of regulation.

While Longmeadow built itself some breathing room off a 7-2 start,  goalie Caitlyn Joyce (seven saves) kept the Colonials off the board with a slew of clutch saves in the first 10 minutes of the contest.

“(She’s) so important,” Kofman said of Joyce. “Caitlyn comes up with so many

saves in the top moments where we really need her. We can always count on her to clear the ball, too. We always trust her in net.”

Sophomore Lyssa Tyler, who tallied four goals last season, finished with five points in Tuesday’s win — improving her goal total on the 2018 campaign to 38.

“I love playing with them,” Conway said of Kofman and Tyler. “They’re on my midfield line. It’s a great time. They’re both such talented players and I really can’t wait to see where they go over the next year or two.”

Despite Tuesday’s final score, Kofman was quick to note that the Lancers are not taking anything for granted going into the Central-West final.

“Coach just told us, we’re really trying to chase perfection,” Kofman said. “We want to reach excellence. We work hard every day and I think that’s our goal — just be the best that we can be, mentally and physically."