PEABODY — What does a good team do when facing a five-game losing streak, and an undefeated opponent?
It fights hard. Despite Peabody’s lacrosse team (4-6) losing to Winthrop (8-0) at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday, the 10-8 final score pretty much tells the story.
“All in all, it wasn’t too bad of a game,” Peabody coach Jason Marshall said. “Winthrop is definitely a good team.”
Peabody’s next win will be its first since April 15. Marshall may be a first-year coach, but his veteran mindset was on full display postgame.
“In games, lacrosse is a game of runs… and the season is the same exact way,” Marshall said. “We had a nice run on our end for the first part, now it’s a run against us, so we’ve just got to bounce back and go on our next run.”
As for Thursday, Peabody struck first in front of its home faithful. Junior captain John Lucas ripped one towards the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead in the first quarter – one that ended 1-1.
Then there was, frankly, the wild second quarter. Peabody senior Ashton Sousa scored on a breakaway (3-2 Winthrop), and Lucas scored two more times for a first-half hat-trick.
“He’s really been putting the team on his back in a lot of aspects, both offensively and defensively the past few games,” Marshall said of Lucas. “He’s definitely someone we rely a lot on.”
Winthrop led 5-4 at the break, but Peabody never let things go further than a two-goal deficit. Marshall applauded his group’s “resiliency and heart.”
“The one thing I’ve been harping on these kids, and they’ve shown it a lot, is the resiliency,” Marshall said. “These kids didn’t give up.”
Other first-half highlights included goalie Antonio Anzalone robbing a Winthrop goal from just a yard out, and the speed of Danny Barrett who – time and time again – entered the zone with ease.
In the third quarter, however, the Vikings began to conquer. After Sousa tied things up (5-5), Winthrop outscored Peabody 4-1 in the frame, and took a 9-5 lead by the end of it.
When the other team doesn’t have the ball, it can’t score. Marshall said his team has tried to win the time of possession category lately, but it was to no avail against Winthrop.
“One thing we’ve been trying to establish the last few games is dominating time of possession,” Marshall said. “That’s something that’s really differentiated the wins and losses.”
Barrett and Connor Anezsis scored late, but time ran out on the Tanners. Winthrop remained undefeated, and Peabody’s losing streak extended to six.
Marshall pointed to his team’s “self-inflicted wounds.”
“Throwing balls away on clears, and on possessions as well,” Marshall said. “Just, kind of, the small things that really add up in the big picture – and add up on the scoreboard against us.”
Despite the losing streak and some questionable officiating down the stretch, Marshall said he hasn’t sensed frustration from his guys.
“No, not really. Our guys are pretty positive,” Marshall said.
The Tanners look to keep that attitude afloat against Gloucester on Monday (4 p.m.). Two days later, they’ll look for revenge against Winthrop in enemy territory (4 p.m.).
“It was a good battle [and] hopefully it goes our way the next game,” Marshall said.
