LYNN — On a chilly Thursday evening, the Lynn Jets lacrosse team took to Manning Field for the first time this season, but it was visiting Malden coming out victorious 13-7.
Head coach Peter Pappagianopoulos said his team’s energy was strong heading in, but admitted the Jets may have been “too up for the game.”
“We took a punch and it took us a while to come back from it,” Pappagianopoulos said.
Despite the opening loss, Pappagianopoulos looks forward to improving upon a “huge” season last year.
“We made our first state tournament last year. Everything started to go our way last season,” Pappagianopoulos said. “We’ve got a great group of leaders and a great group of seniors. We got a little bit of adversity, and now we’ll see how we come back from this.”
On top of making the state tournament, the Jets’ goal is to be competitive in every game. Lynn lost a “great group of seniors,” and Pappagianopoulos is looking forward to the next group of students picking up where they left off.
“It’s their turn to step up and become those leaders on the team,” Pappagianopoulos said.
Some players Pappagianopoulos believes are primed for good seasons are Ryan Dunn and Nick Costa.
“They’re two of our returning midfielders who are captains, great players, and great workers,” Pappagianopoulos said.
The Jets also return last season’s leading scorer Steven DiFilippo, as well as the do-it-all Jet Ian Brown.
“He’s [DiFilippo] going to play a huge role for us scoring this season,” Pappagianopoulos said. “We also return Ian Brown who does just about everything.”
In addition to scoring, the Jets return key defensive player Jayden LeBlanc, who was a starter last season as a freshman and will anchor the Jets’ defense.
Pappagianopoulos described himself as a defensive coach, but acknowledged defense is something that will come with time.
“It’s tough giving up goals. We have two first-year defenders and a first-year defensive middie,” Pappagianopoulos said. “Building on our defense and building on our defensive form will come together. It’s early to play your first game when it’s the second week of the season.”
Lynn looks for its first win of the season Tuesday when the Jets travel to Della Russo Stadium against Revere. The matchup begins at 4:15 p.m.
