SOUTH HADLEY — Ryan Shaw gave Granby a dream start.
Lenox turned it into a nightmare finish.
The Rams senior forward found the net 1 minute, 9 seconds into Wednesday’s Western Massachusetts Division 4 boys soccer semifinal. Weishan Li found him on the left of the goal, and he beat the keeper with a high shot.
“I saw an opening in the middle. My teammates are really great about getting the ball to the center,” Shaw said. “I just took a shot.”
Lenox scored the next three goals to win the match 3-1 and advance to its second consecutive Western Mass. final. The No. 2-seeded Millionaires (15-2-3) will play No. 1 Monson (15-4-1) for the second year in a row.
No. 3 Granby (17-3) fell in the semifinals for the second straight year.
The Rams controlled the passage of play immediately following their goal. Then Lenox settled in and started tightening its pressure.
“Their high pressure caused us a few more turnovers. We weren’t able to really possess the ball and build the way we wanted to,” Granby coach Todd Dorman said.
Once the Millionaires dispossessed Granby, they turned that possession into offense.
Lenox junior forward Michael Abdalla tied the game at 1 in the 22nd minute off a rocket to the right side of the net, assisted by Luke Murphy. He also put Lenox ahead 2-1 on a similar play in the 49th minute from Alec Jordan.
“They play such a high line, I felt if you turn the game into a more direct game, possess it a little bit and then get it forward, our forwards are so fast and strong it’s the best way to utilize their abilities,” Lenox coach Camilo Bermudez said.
Lenox forward Nick Baruch provided a more individualized moment of brilliance for the Millionaires’ last goal. He intercepted a Granby pass on the Rams’ side of the field and carried it into the box, where he laced a shot into the right side of the net.
Granby’s offensive pressure decreased steadily after each of Lenox’s goals.
“Once they got their goal, we felt a drop as a team,” Shaw said. “But we knew we had to get one back before they scored another one.”
That goal never came, and the Rams’ season again ended in the semifinals.
It was the last game for 14 Granby seniors.
“They’re really students of the game. They’re always playing together, they’re always talking about it. Many of them are two- and three-sport athletes, they all took time to dedicate to soccer,” Todd Dorman said. “That dedication at a small school is often tough to sustain and it creates these pockets. It got them to the highest levels of Western Mass. soccer.”