LYNN — After a close first half, the North surged past the South in the second half of the Seventh Agganis Girls Lacrosse All-Star Game to earn a 14-4 victory at Manning Field Wednesday night.
The North squad was led by four goals from Jordyn Tveter (Masconomet), which earned her the North team’s MVP award. Francesca Carpinella (Bishop Fenwick), Emma Farnham (Andover), and Molly Kearney (Newburyport) each scored two goals for the North. Gabriella Machado (Gloucester), Rachel Boylan (Bishop Fenwick), Sophie Caldwell (Gloucester), and Emily Kenyon (Gloucester) also each added a goal in the win.
“It feels absolutely incredible. I’m so happy I played in this game,” Tveter said. “It was really great playing with these girls. I played against them all throughout my season and I’m just happy I could play with them as a team together.
“It feels good scoring some goals and also playing one more time with my former goalie Marissa Karras,” she added.
North goaltender Molly Laliberty (Newburyport) also had a solid game in net, allowing only one goal after coming in for the second half.
“This is my third year being able to coach the Agganis games,” North coach Kerri O’Connor (Ipswich) said. “I really think of it as an honor because these girls are often my opponents during the season so I’m focusing on scouting them but it was fun to switch gears and actually be able to coach them.
“This game is a fun opportunity to see some of the top players come together and really work together instead of being against each other,” she said.
For the South, Jenna Balboni earned MVP honors after scoring three goals. Olivia Smyrnios (Lynnfield) also added one goal for the South.
“It was definitely good, especially playing with people I’ve never played with before,” Balboni said.”I thought both teams played really good.”
South coach Annie Madden (Marblehead) was happy to coach a pair of her Magicians stars in recent Marblehead graduates Caroline Driscoll and Hadley Carlton. Driscoll and Carlton both helped lead the Magicians to the Division 1 North final in the state tournament this past season.
“Coming and coaching for the Agganis game is always a great way to end the season,” Madden said. “To see all of the seniors come out and play one final game together is really a great celebration for everyone.”
The game started off with a quick goal from Tveter, but the South responded with back-to-back goals from Balboni and Smyrnios within two minutes of each other to take a 2-1 lead.
The North team then scored five consecutive goals, two by Carpinella, to take a 6-2 lead. Balboni would add another goal in the final minute of the half to make the score 6-3 favoring the North at halftime.
The second half started with the North’s Machado and Balboni swapping goals to put the score at 7-4. From there on out the North dominated, scoring seven consecutive goals while allowing none.
“I told them, ‘You were picked. You’re one of the top players in your league so you know how to play, you might not know each other’s names, but you know how to communicate and how to move the ball,'” O’Connor said of her team. “They did a good job of just working together as one big unit out there.”
