PEABODY — Not a lot of 8-3 lacrosse games wound up being game-of-the-year candidates. Don’t tell that to Bishop Fenwick.
Despite the Lynnfield Pioneers (9-5) escaping enemy territory with a 9-8 victory Friday evening, Fenwick made them earn every inch of that turf.
Lynnfield’s Will Norton spotted a cutting Drew Damiani with seconds winding down in the first half. After a decisive up-and-under from Damiani, he tucked one at the halftime buzzer to put his team ahead 8-3.
“We were pretty under control of the game in the first half,” Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said.
That said, good teams don’t run – they respond and look at what went wrong. Fenwick coach Mike Saccomani – in for an overseas Dave MacKenzie – attributed the poor second quarter to bad transition play.
“Allowing transition to happen, rather than playing back and kind of setting our stuff up on the defensive end,” Saccomani said.
Then came the adjustments. Fenwick’s defensemen played back a bit more and the offense started to see the whole field – among other things.
“The guys handled adjustments really well. We put in a 1-4-1 at halftime,” Saccomani said. “The offense handled that well, and the defense was super coachable and flew around.”
When asked about the message heading into the second half, Saccomani used the word “battle.” Well, Fenwick scored four unanswered goals to make it 8-7 by the end of the third.
Fenwick captain Manny Alvarez-Segee (3 goals) scored a one-legged, turnaround goal during the run, but highlights were aplenty. Tyler Mullen timed a spin move perfectly with five seconds remaining in the third before rifling one off the right post and in.
“There’s so many guys that really battled,” Saccomani said. “Manny scored and had his 200th point today.”
On the other side, Lamusta attributed his team’s scoreless third quarter to a poor “energy level.”
“We have to do a better job at coming out aggressively after halftime,” Lamusta said. “Be a better second-half team.”
Regarding that all-important energy level, Lamusta said his boys got it back in the fourth quarter – and, boy, was he right.
Putting an end to Fenwick’s momentum, Lynnfield’s Mike Murphy fed Norton for the eventual game-winning goal with 6:48 remaining in the game.
“It was a little bit of a chess-match defensively,” Lamusta said. “Will Norton had some key goals.”
From there, it was the Ben Pimentel (12 saves) show for Lynnfield. The sophomore goalie registered key stops with 2:35 and 20 seconds remaining, and his coach couldn’t have been more proud.
“Great saves from Ben Pimentel,” Lamusta said. “Even as a sophomore, the composure has gotten so much better… It’s nice to have a kid you’re going to have for four years, too, especially in that position.”
Fenwick had a chance to tie things up in the final minute, but strong perimeter defense gave Lynnfield its ninth win of the season.
Fenwick’s Nate Riccutti registered three assists and a goal, while captain Joey Marshall had a goal and an assist.
Lynnfield travels to face Triton at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, while Fenwick hosts Bishop Feehan on Saturday at 11 a.m.
