NORTHAMPTON — Another tournament, another sweep for the Amherst Regional ultimate teams.
For the first time in five years, the Amherst varsity boys and girls have won the state Division 1 championship in the same year.
The boys dug deep to eke out a 15-11 triumph over Northampton. The girls beat Four Rivers of Greenfield, 14-5.
Amherst has been to ultimate what Longmeadow has been to lacrosse — dominant. The Hurricanes are who others aspire to be and after this weekend, the gap may be getting closer in western Massachusetts.
The region provided all four finalists at the spacious Oxbow Marina fields in Northampton. The hometown Blue Devil boys nearly pulled off an upset, while the girls lost to the Hurricanes, 15-4, in the semifinals.
Amherst proved to be a cut above the competition in both divisions. A strong feeder program has the athletes learning the sport in middle school and their experience showed over the weekend when both Hurricane teams dominated.
If this were Hollywood, the boys final was right out of “Rocky”, with Northampton cast in the role of the journeyman Philadelphia boxer and Amherst as heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.
The Blue Devils, who were making their first appearance in a state final, had the Hurricanes on the ropes and their dogged determination and nonstop hustle took Amherst out of its game at times.
But Amherst overcame a rare halftime deficit, 8-6, and finished off Northampton with a 9-5 run to claim its first championship since 2012.
“They came out really strong and we didn’t,” Amherst captain Luke Webb said.
Unhappy with their play, the Hurricanes regrouped during the second half.
“It was more of an anger comeback, for me personally, because I was angry with the way I was playing,” Webb said.
Amherst has never lost to Northampton. The Blue Devils certainly earned the respect of their opponent.
“This was unexpected,” Amherst captain Oliver Fay said. “We put a strong line on them and we kept scoring.”
Jacob Kaplan thought that Northampton brought out the best in his team.
“I love competitive games and this was super fun,” he said. “When we see a team that’s working hard, we can’t help but start working hard as well.”
Playing well in a tight game put a cap on another outstanding season for the Hurricanes.
“This was maybe the last thing we needed to accomplish this year,” Amherst coach Joe Costello said. “This was the most complete season I could possibly imagine.”
The mutual respect these rivals have for each other was evident in the postgame handshake. Every participant knew he had just played in a great final.
“Northampton’s a program on the rise,” Costello said. “They are super organized, they have coaches who are very good, players who are driven. This is really just the beginning for them.”
The Hurricanes, who went 2-0 in pool play on Saturday, beat Needham, 15-4, and Sharon, 15-7, en route to the finals on Sunday.
“Northampton definitely was our toughest test,” Costello said. “I am so proud of our guys.”
Northampton was only the second high school team to score in double digits against Amherst this season.
“This was our best game against them,” Northampton coach Jeremiah Berlin said. “This is a victory in my book and we have a lot to be proud of.”
The Blue Devils took solace in knowing they gave it their best.
“It was the best we played all season,” Northampton captain Zach Levitt said. “Amherst played an incredible game.”
The Blue Devils, who went 3-0 in pool play on Saturday, came into the finals with confidence. A comeback semifinal win over Masconomet seemed to inspire Northampton in the final.
“We came out strong against Amherst, but they have such a deep team,” captain Sam Mescon said. “They just played a better game.”
Zach Dietz was proud of what his team did this season.
“It was so amazing just to be part of it,” Dietz said. “I think everyone on this team should be proud of what we did.”
The Amherst girls went 3-0 in Saturday’s pool play and outscored their opponents 45-5. The dominance continued through the championship bracket on Sunday.
“I’m proud of them — (the finals) wasn’t the prettiest game we played because there were a lot of turnovers,” coach Josh Nugent said. “We got contributions from everybody and it was a nice way to end our season.”
Which was important seeing that standout April Weintraub missed the tournament due to injury.
“When my team needed me, I really wanted to be there,” Weintraub said. “But we really pulled through and I got to see how intense we were and how awesome everyone played.”
Izzi Tripp said the key to the title was working together as a team.
“We knew we could always count on everyone,” Tripp said. “Four Rivers was a very impressive team.”
Northampton’s run was fueled by Hannah Finn-Erb, Phoebe Jessup, Claire Babbott-Bryan, Julia Snodgrass and Lili Leiberman-Bachman.
“We had one mantra this year which was focus with fire,” Northampton coach Sheldon Snodgrass said. “We talked about bringing intensity 100 percent of the time.”
Northampton started ultimate four years ago. Clarissa Lyons has been instrumental as assistant coach.
“Tournaments always let the kids challenge themselves and step up their play,” Lyons said.
Northampton went 4-0 in pool play. The Blue Devils beat Concord-Carlisle 13-9 in the quarterfinals. Following their semifinal loss to Amherst, Hamp beat Lexington, 15-7, in the third-place game.