MALDEN — The Lynn Jets boys lacrosse team got off on the wrong foot Thursday and never was able to recover, dropping its season opener to Malden by a score of 13-6.
To open up the game, the Jets found themselves down five early on and just could not seem to catch up.
Jordan Em led the offense for the Jets as he found the back of the net twice in his season debut. Devin Copithorne, Cade Toomey, Ryan Dunn and captain Stevan Downey all had one goal each.
It was clear that the excitement for a lot of these players was there, and those first-game jitters were clearly getting the better of them in the beginning. However, those nerves started to disappear throughout the game. As the game progressed, their play became less selfish and more fluid. This allowed them to close gaps, however the early hole they found themselves in turned out to be too much for them to overcome.
“This is the first time a lot of these kids have picked up a lacrosse stick or played in a high-school game,” said Lynn coach Peter Pappagianopoulos. “I have to say, I am proud of these guys for what they displayed. I know the nerves were there in the first half, but they really settled down as the game went on.”
For the Jets though, they definitely displayed toughness and a sense of brotherhood that allowed them to show signs of life in what seemed like an all-but-hopeless game. From the captains hyping up their teammates on the sidelines, or high-fiving one another after scoring, these boys supported each other until the final seconds ran off the clock.
“I was a bit nervous honestly, having this team that consists of three separate schools where these kids play against each other in other sports, I thought there was going to be a bit of a rivalry.” said Pappagianopoulos, whose Jets are made up of players from Classical, English and Tech. “However, there was none of that. These guys were so supportive of each other, helping lift each other up, and kept putting their brothers first. It was awesome to see.”
Pappagianopoulos had a lot of high praise for his two captains — Downey and Nick Tinkham. Both of them were able to help keep the team motivated, and helped the rest of the guys keep their heads up.
“A lot of these kids are hockey players, and when they see the five-point deficit they think that’s the end of the line,” said Pappagianopoulos. “However, those two boys kept telling them ‘Hey, there’s still time on the clock, we can do this.’ And they’re right. Scoring is a lot easier in lacrosse than in hockey, so those deficits aren’t game-ending.”
Lynn (0-1) looks to bounce back for its home opener against Revere on Wednesday (4).
