PEABODY — The Peabody boys lacrosse team got its season started on the right foot Friday night, taking down Hamilton-Wenham by a score of 8-3 at Coley Lee Field.
Junior Nick Salvati led the offensive charge for the Tanners, notching three goals and one assist in his first career varsity start. Cam Collins had two goals and two assists, while Tyler Kalloo scored two goals. Danny Barrett found himself in the scoring column with one goal — the first of his varsity career. Senior goalie Derek Patturelli made 10 saves.
“This was my first time getting a varsity start, so you know, I was a little nervous,” said Salvati about his performance. “Once I scored that first one though, it was easy from there. I was confident, shooting well and my teammates were finding me open.”
The Tanners and Generals came out evenly matched in the first half of the game, as both teams fought back and forth to try to gain any momentum. Both defenses managed to force numerous turnovers on the other, however the Tanners were able go into the half up 3-2 behind Salvati’s two goals.
“We were nervous, honestly — we’re very inexperienced,” said Peabody coach Leo Shidler. “We only have 24 guys on the roster, and about half of them have never played before.”
For the Tanners, that inexperience did not show as the game went on. Coming into the second half of the game, all the little mistakes the team was making in the first half slowly started to disappear as they managed to retain possession of the ball better than in the first half.
Kalloo opened the third with a score of his own to extend the Tanners’ lead by one, bringing the score to 4-2. The score remained the same until the final frame began, and again Kalloo extended the Tanners’ lead. That was quickly followed up by Collins, who netted his second goal of the game to increase the Tanners’ lead to four.
“We just needed to stay positive during the half,” said Shidler. “The guys were down on themselves after throwing the ball away a bunch of times. With a sophomore and a junior out there starting for the first time, we just needed to keep our heads up.”
As time ticked away in the fourth, the Tanners started to find a rhythm and ripped their lead wide open as Barrett scored his first goal of the game. The defense for the Tanners managed to come up big as they didn’t allow another goal until the final seconds came off the clock, as the Tanners took home their first victory of the season.
The Tanners (1-0) are set to face off against Masconomet on Tuesday (4) as they look to continue the momentum from their home opener win.
