South prevails in tight Agganis Women’s Lacrosse Classic

LYNN – While last year’s inaugural Agganis Women’s Lacrosse Classic was a rout, with the South winning easily 17-5, this year’s edition was much closer. The South would prevail again, but this time it needed a full 50 minutes to secure a 12-11 victory on Tuesday evening at Manning Field.View Photo GalleryAfter trailing 6-4 at the end of the first half, the South squad erupted for five unanswered goals in a six-minute span to open the second. Winchester’s Megan Hennessey and Norwell’s Devon Croke scored two each in the spree. Croke’s teammate Maddie Ward chipped in with the other tally.The North would fire right back with three of its own to tie the game at nine apiece. Kiley Fischer (Marblehead) scored the first off a beautiful downfield pass from Kristy Robertson (Haverhill) at the 16:30 mark. Ryan Gautreau (Wilmington) and Kate Lucich (Lynnfield) scored 1:40 apart to knot the score, despite the South holding a 17-12 shot advantage.The South would respond with another streak, scoring the next three goals, which proved the difference in the game. St. Mary’s Gabby Crugnale scored after a flurry of activity in front of North goalie Allie Forman (nine saves) with 6:45 to go. After Hennessey converted a long pass from Norwell’s Mary O’Connell, the latter notched the eventual game-winner at 3:42.”The score was really reflective as to just how balanced these two teams were tonight,” explained North coach Annie Pugh. “Lacrosse on the North Shore, especially in Eastern Massachusetts, is really starting to pick up and it is starting to really flourish as well.”O’Connell would garner South MVP honors with three goals and a monstrous second half, which saw her tally six assists. The North would attempt a rally, getting goals from Meggie Collins (Marblehead) and Lindsay Whiteway (Billerica) late, but couldn’t get the equalizer in the final minute.Bishop Fenwick’s Grace Celona was the story of the first half, as she scored the first four North goals (five total), pacing her side to the two-goal halftime lead. The fantastic effort allowed Celona to take home the North MVP award.”It was really fun playing out there today with such great competition on the field,” said Celona after the game. “It was fun to play with teammates who I had played against during the season like the Marblehead girls. I also have played for Coach Pugh before, so that was really fun.”While Celona was taking care of business early on for the North, the South got two goals from O’Connell, as well as tallies from Ward and Croke to keep pace. The North’s Erin O’Leary (Winthrop) would score on a beautiful bounce shot to the top left corner before Celona’s fifth at the 1:05 mark.”It was such an honor to be selected to coach in this game tonight,” said Pugh of her Agganis experience. “It’s always kind of nice to have that moment where you can put the competitiveness of sports aside and just play for the love of the game.”