PEABODY — The Peabody and Danvers boys lacrosse teams battled back and forth all afternoon long at Coley Lee Field Thursday, but in the end it was Danvers that was able to come up with two goals in the final five minutes and then get a big defensive stop to hand the Tanners a 7-6 loss.
Junior Nick Salvati led the way for Peabody with three goals in the loss, while senior Cam Collins had one goal and two assists. Junior Tyler Kalloo and sophomore Matthew Bettencourt each scored one goal, while sophomore Jonathan Lucas had two assists. Junior Anthony Curcio won 10-of-16 faceoffs, while junior goalie Derek Patturelli made 11 saves.
On the Danvers side, junior Colby Dunham led the offensive attack with four goals. Freshman Brady Tersolo added two goals — including the eventual game-winner — while sophomore Jake Ryan scored one goal. Seniors Aidan Smith and Jack Murphy each had one assist.
It was a back-and-forth game from the start, but it was Peabody that owned the first quarter. Kalloo got the offense started with a goal five minutes in, but Tersolo responded for Danvers to tie up the score two minutes later. The Tanners turned it on from there, getting one goal each from Salvati and Collins in the final three minutes of the quarter to take a 3-1 lead into the first break.
But Danvers wasn’t deterred, as Dunham got cooking in the second quarter and scored two goals in less than two minutes to tie the score up at 3-3 heading into halftime.
Dunham continued his momentum right into the second half, cashing in on a man-advantage with a goal to give the Falcons their first lead of the game.
But Peabody came right back with a response of its own, as Salvati and Bettencourt scored within 1:20 of each other to retake the lead at 5-4.
Not to be outdone, Dunham ended the quarter with his fourth goal of the game to tie the score at 5-5.
Salvati’s hat-trick goal early in the fourth quarter gave the Tanners yet another lead, but Danvers would not be denied. After Ryan and Tersolo each scored a goal in the final five minutes to give the Falcons the 7-6 lead, junior Michael Sydlowski came up with a huge stick check and the ensuing ground ball to give Danvers possession. The Falcons called a timeout, regrouped, and ran out the final 30 seconds of the game to take home the win.
Peabody (2-5) will have the weekend off before hosting Beverly Monday afternoon (4) back at Coley Lee Field.
Danvers (5-3) hosts Ipswich Tuesday (4:30).
