ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Elizabeth Brady, left, tries to drive past Jessica Gambale during the Agganis All-Star girls lacrosse game on Wednesday.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN — Rain threatened to postpone the fifth annual Agganis girls lacrosse game Wednesday at Manning Field. But the girls waited out the passing storm, and treated the fans to an offensive show in the North’s 21-8 win.
Pingree’s Kirby Heffrin, who will go on to play lacrosse at Connecticut College next spring, looked like she hadn’t missed a beat since the end of her high school season. Heffrin scored seven times to earn the North MVP award. North Andover’s Michelle Poirer, who will attend Johns Hopkins, was also excellent, netting five goals for the North.
South MVP Grace O’Hara (Winchester) scored four goals and North Reading’s Katie Welch scored twice. Swampscott’s Samantha Blank and Jessica Gambale each added a goal for the South as well.
It was an uphill battle for the South from the get-go. With four Cohasset players fighting the traffic on their way up from the South Shore, South coach Al Eaton (Swampscott) was a bit hamstrung. Not only did his team play the first half without anyone on the bench, it played with only one true midfielder, supplementing the position with defenders.
Yet, the South jumped on the board first, as O’Hara found the back of the net four minutes into the game.
“It was funny because we scored more in the first half, it was a closer game in the first half,” said Eaton. “I think the open space actually helped us.”
Fenwick’s Colleen Corcoran, playing in her third Agganis game in three days (she also played in basketball and soccer), knotted the score at one a minute later. Poirer and Heffrin scored soon after to help the North create some distance.
The North didn’t relinquish the lead after that, but the South stayed close behind, going into the half down, 8-5.
But even with the reinforcements from Cohasset arriving at halftime, the South couldn’t contain the North’s firepower in the second half.
Haverhill’s Elizabeth Brady came alive to join Poirer and Heffin as a big offensive threat in the second half, scoring three times.
The North seemed to gel almost immediately in the game, though there weren’t significantly large numbers from any one team.
“It’s definitely tough, and they did it really well,” said North coach K.C. Butt (St. Mary’s). “They knew how to move the ball. I even had girls playing positions they don’t normally play, and they did well. To do that, without practicing, it was pretty impressive. There was some really great talent out there.”
Heffrin did have some experience with a couple of North teammates, Masco’s Sammy Dindo and Molly Gillespie, whom she played on a club team with in middle school.
“It was great, it’s so much fun playing with all these girls,” said Heffrin. “It’s such a small world when it comes to lacrosse. You meet girls who you’ve played against or seen before. It was fun to come back and finish your high school career with girls you played with in middle school.”
Though his team couldn’t keep up with the powerful North squad Wednesday, Eaton said the game was a great experience.
“One of the reasons this is such a wonderful event is it gives the girls some closure on their season,” said Eaton. “All but one team loses in the end. So it’s nice to have an organized game for fun. They initially played for the fun, and that’s what they came to do today.”
