SPRINGFIELD - South Hadley boys lacrosse coach Matt Benoit said his team didn't need to peak when it met Minnechaug twice during the regular season. It needed to peak in the postseason.

The Tigers might not have played their absolute best in Tuesday's Western Massachusetts Division 2 semifinal, but their 12-10 victory at American International College assured them the chance to play for the sectional title for the third straight season.

"Before the game, we were all in to win it," said senior captain Luke DiLisio. "Obviously because it's a playoff game, but also because they had beaten us twice. We felt this was a redemption game, and we got some payback."

Breathing room was hard to come by Tuesday. Through the first 41 minutes, the biggest lead either side enjoyed was a two-goal advantage for the Tigers which lasted less than two minutes early in the third quarter.

"Every game you lose, you learn more about yourself and your opponent," said senior defender Troy Johnson. "So we had a good game-plan going into today. It was tight the whole game, but we came through."

Top-seeded South Hadley (15-4) will return to AIC to face No. 2 Longmeadow (14-6) in Saturday's 1 p.m. title game. The teams split a pair of regular season meetings.

"This means a lot to everybody in the program," said South Hadley coach Matt Benoit. "These guys have led us to the final three straight years, and this is a good thing for South Hadley right now. The community rallies behind us and our other teams."

The senior attack duo of DiLisio and Chris Menard scored nine of the team's 12 goals.

DiLisio scored his fourth of the game to put South Hadley up to stay with 8:39 left in regulation. He received a pass on the doorstep from Zak Guenther and fired it home for a 9-8 lead.

"That extra pass means the world, it's the difference between a hard-fought goal and a much easier goal," DiLisio said. "It freed up a lot of room for guys. Chris and Zak made some great passes, and that's something we need to continue to work on going forward."

Menard and Guenther scored unassisted goals over the next three minutes to make it 11-8. After the Falcons closed to within two, Menard scooped up the ball on a turnover, raced up the right side and ripped a shot to seal the win.

Menard (five goals, two assists) posted a team-high seven points. Guenther (two assists), Matt Crotty (assist) and Ryan Dickinson each added a tally apiece.

"Their defense is probably the best in western Mass., and they're the best against four of the best attackers in the area on our team," Benoit said. "But today we got the better of them."

The No. 4 Falcons (13-7) scored two of the final three goals of the game in the last four minutes, and the Tigers had to overcome a one-minute penalty.

Sophomore goaltender Justin Pontz made 16 key saves, many on low blasts by the Falcons' attackers.

"Doug Sattler got injured earlier in the year, and Justin was put in as the starter," said DiLisio. "I don't think he expected that, but he's stepped up big time for us. He really motivates himself and doesn't worry about the last play. That's the mindset you need in that position."

"He's been getting better every single game, mentally and physically," said Benoit. "It's his first year as a starting varsity lacrosse goalie, so all we can ask is steady improvement."

The South Hadley defense exhibited its improvement over the course of the season. The Tigers had allowed 15 goals in the two prior losses to Minnechaug. Johnson, Conor Doran, Evan Mariani, Ian Hanrahan and Alec Plotnikiewicz all contributed to the defensive effort.

"We keep getting better every game," said Benoit. "Some of the penalties were a bit questionable, but our defense stepped it up and killed it off."

The game was tied after both the first and the third quarters. The Tigers outscored the Falcons 4-2 over the final 12 minutes.

Minnechaug junior goalie John Dusel also played well, making 11 stops. The Falcons had seven different goal scorers and 11 players register at least one point. Junior midfielder Reed McLean scored a team-high three goals.

DiLisio and Johnson, who have both won multiple western Mass. championships in various sports, look forward to adding to the South Hadley tradition Saturday.

The Tigers lost 9-5 to the Lancers in last season's title game, and suffered a 16-7 defeat at home to Longmeadow May 20. South Hadley beat Longmeadow 15-14 on May 12.

"We want another shot at western Mass., especially after our loss to them in the final last year," said DiLisio. "It's great to be on this stage again, and we're looking forward to playing Longmeadow.

"We had a tough night against them at home under the lights, so we want to make up for it and when better than the western Mass. title game."

Johnson said, "We have to win, we don't go to tie or lose. We expect a lot out of ourselves, and if we play like we did today, we'll have a great chance."

Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.