Photo: Belmont High goalie Nate Moss during last year’s playoff game

It took a decade and then they needed a double overtime before Belmont High School Boys’ Lacrosse could finally claimed a victory over Middlesex League powerhouse Melrose, 8-7, in the team’s home and league opener Thursday, April 6.

Junior Mike Pomer pumped in the winner high – and the goal for his hat trick – to the goalie’s left side, coming after Mason LeMack Bremen tied the game at 7 with 32 seconds left in regular time just half a minute after Melrose took the lead late in the fourth quarter.

The win pushes Belmont’s early season record to 2-1 with only a 9-8 overtime loss away at Newton North sullying its account.

“You never know what you have at the beginning of the season,” said Belmont Head Coach Josh Streit.

”I always thought we had a very strong team and the Newton North game in the rain showed us what we were capable of. I though all along that this team was sneakingly good and we are going to be competing for positions in the league we’ve never been before

Belmont came prepared as they scored three goals in the first four minutes of the game, with Peter Grace (2 goals, 1 assist) and Zack Leary (2 goals) who scored from an extreme angle.

One of the keys to the victory was Belmont’s Zack Musi who won 15 of 18 face offs, an extraordinary performance “helped win the game,” said Streit.

Down by one in the final minute, Belmont called a time out and drew up a play they never ran in practice, a backside pick in which LeMack Bremen starts the play going in one direction then pretends to have get lost. As the play was being run, something unexpected occurred: “[LeMack Bremen] actually DID get lost because he never ran the play.” But all the other elements of the called play worked as Pomer found the free Mason on the backside and the attacker places the ball on the far side of the goalie for his only goal.

It was back and forth in both overtimes with goalie Nate Moss (4 saves) stoning a clear break away to preserve the tie before Pomer roped the winner from 10 meters out.