The change transpires subtly then materializes violently.

Owen Dawson flips a switch, or a switch within Dawson is flipped on the lacrosse field. Either one means good things for South Hadley and a bad time for whoever’s on the other side.

“He does the thing the teams needs to win. There are times when you see it, he changes,” South Hadley coach Jeff Marion said. “When nothing’s going right, he’ll put together something. You shake your head and wonder how the heck did he do it? He gets it done.”

Dawson, the Daily Hampshire Gazette Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year, damaged opposing defenses to the tune of 38 goals and 37 assists facing some of Western Massachusetts’ toughest competition on a game-by-game basis. The junior was named a league all-star in the Valley Wheel alongside players from Longmeadow, Minnechaug and Pope Francis.

“He’s playing against the best competition, there’s no doubt,” Marion said.

That also means an understanding of the game and where to focus defensive efforts. Dawson was regularly item No. 1 on the opposition’s game plan.

“You’ve got to take it as a positive and go all out and go after them,” he said.

South Hadley, for most of the season, was a smaller fish playing in the big pond. The Tigers (4-14) went 1-9 in league play. They were a Division 4 school trading blows with Division 2 and 3 powers.

“Throughout my time in youth [lacrosse] it was the same thing. We were always playing the top of the line teams in Western Mass.,” Dawson said. “We knew what we were getting ourselves into.”

The losses, at times, weighed heavily on Dawson. The competitor from a competitive family expected the best from himself and his teammates even against long odds in the first year under Marion.

“I don’t think he gets too frustrated. We all were a little bit, we’re playing against the top teams in our area. We want to do better than we have done. He keeps a good attitude about it. He shows up every day. He works hard, he tries to pump up all the guys on the team,” Marion said. “He does get frustrated and there were times I had to walk him off the ledge a little bit. That’s just his competitiveness and his desire to win.”

Thankfully some of that family was there to absorb some of the irritation and help redirect it toward more positive pursuits. Dawson’s father Peter joined the coaching staff along with his oldest brother Jack, who’d been there since Owen’s freshman year. Peter Dawson and Marion coached the group for most of their youth careers.

Jack played at Saint Anselm and regularly conversed with Owen during timeouts and halftimes.

“He’s a very smart guy, played Division 2 [college lacrosse]. He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to lacrosse. It’s hard to fight with him because he’s my older brother. Whatever he says, that goes, there’s nothing I can really do about it,” Owen said. “We’ll try not to argue and we’ll work together to make it all work. At the end of the day he’s still my coach on the field.”

The Dawson family speaks lacrosse as a second language. The three of them regularly bounce ideas and concepts off each other.

“They’re not arguing or confronting each other,” Marion said. “It’s a healthy brother relationship.”

The season’s trials proved worth it once the state tournament arrived. Despite its under-.500 record, South Hadley received the No. 17 seed in the Division 4 bracket, just percentage points below 18-0 Old Colony Regional, the No. 16 seed. But that also meant a two-hour ride to the South Shore.

It didn’t matter. 

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead before lightning postponed the game to the next day. South Hadley showed up again and won 17-4 to reach the Round of 16.

“When we play those teams and we’re evenly matched, we have the edge and more experience at that point,” Dawson said. “We’re getting more out of it playing a team like Longmeadow rather than some team that struggles to find games.”

No. 1 Cohasset, the eventual state champion, ended their season in the next round, but South Hadley only graduated a handful of seniors and will retain the bulk of their team in the junior class.

“Hopefully it’ll be our time to take over games,” Dawson said.

FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

Charlie Anischik, senior, South Hadley

Evan Carmody, senior, St. Mary’s

Jack Carpenter, sophomore, Northampton

Robert Crean, senior, St. Mary’s

Owen Dawson, junior, South Hadley

Skyler Ferro, junior, Amherst

Jameson Dion, junior, Amherst

Nate Loughman, senior, Granby

Elias Marques, senior, Belchertown

Alex Martinez, junior, Smith Vocational

Tristan Moe, sophomore, Granby

Ethan Roy, junior, South Hadley

Nico St. George, junior, Belchertown

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

Bennett Allen, junior, South Hadley

Max Frenette, senior, Amherst

Josh Grillo, junior, Belchertown

Timmy Laporte, senior, South Hadley

Noah Marion, junior, South Hadley

Dax Morin, junior, Belchertown

Thomas O’Connor, sophomore, St. Mary’s 

Minti Peterson, sophomore, Northampton

Liam Ramos, eighth grader, St. Mary’s

Taikoda Wilson, junior, Amherst

Luke Wojnas, junior, Belchertown

Eddie Wykowski, senior, South Hadley

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