LYNNFIELD — Pearse MacDonald of Lynnfield has had quite the last two years. He was an unknown, then got recruited, and now, he’s an All-American lacrosse player.
MacDonald grew up playing the game he loves, and said he couldn’t remember a time he didn’t have a stick in his hands.
“I’ve been playing lacrosse ever since third grade when my dad handed me a stick,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald described himself as a “lacrosse junkie” as he watches and attends games all the time – he dreamed big because of that.
“It was a goal [to play in college] ever since middle school,” MacDonald said. “It was a long-time goal to play in college, but I wasn’t able to turn that into a reality until my junior year.”
MacDonald transferred from St. Mark’s School to The Governor’s Academy for his final two years of high school. It was there MacDonald described himself as an “unknown” who really started to live up to his potential.
MacDonald had a growth spurt, and started to put his name on the map.
“I grew two to three inches and started to fill out my body. I started to gain more confidence in myself, too, and played more lacrosse,” MacDonald said. “I was kind of unknown entering my junior season and then sparked up and had a great season.”
MacDonald finished that season with 42 goals and 28 assists. He led Governor’s Academy to two upset wins in the Independent School League playoffs against the top two seeds.
After the season, MacDonald continued to work hard and offers started to roll in. Once it was time to decide, the sniper landed on UPenn.
“I chose UPenn because of the academics and the camaraderie of the team. The Wharton School [of Business] and a strong lacrosse program was appealing,” MacDonald said. “Back when I was in the seventh grade, I went to a lacrosse playoff game between Yale and UPenn and it was one of the craziest lacrosse games I’ve ever watched. I really liked certain players on the Penn team and I kind of wanted to be like them and from then [on], I really wanted to go there.”
An unknown no longer, teams began to focus their game plans around stopping MacDonald, something he admitted took time to get used to.
“This season was nerve-wracking. Coming into the year, I had a lot more publicity. A lot of people knew who I was now,” MacDonald said. “I definitely had a lot of struggles during the season. Other teams would scout me differently so, at times, I would have to be a decoy or I’ll have two people face-guarding me. I learned a lot from it and my coaches helped me out mentally to get through it.”
MacDonald ended his senior campaign with 42 goals and 13 assists, but it wasn’t until after the season that more good news came out.
MacDonald was named a U.S. Lacrosse All-American and ranked the top midfielder in Massachusetts.
“I found out on a Monday or Tuesday morning that I was named All-American. I just got back from a lacrosse tournament and I woke up to a text from my coach,” MacDonald said. “It was around 9 a.m. and all my friends started texting me. I remember just scrolling through the messages with a smile on my face. It was very cool waking up to that. It’s a moment I won’t forget.”
MacDonald believes his hard work is what got him to this point, and with a little help from his friends.
“All the hard work started back in elementary school in Lynnfield with my friends,” MacDonald said. “My friends and I kept pushing each other and that’s when I started to get better. My dad was one of the coaches who helped me improve. We drove for hours and to different states to play, and a lot of people thought I was crazy, but it was worth it.”
MacDonald also plays for more than himself. On his helmet, he has a piece of tape with the number 55 written on it to honor a classmate who passed away when they were in middle school.
“One of my classmates, Sonny Tropeano, passed away when we were in elementary school. I know in middle school and throughout high school, kids from Lynnfield, including myself, put a piece of tape on our helmet with the number 55 on it to honor him,” MacDonald said. “It was all of our ways to remember him. I try to think of him as someone who watches over me as I play. He and I were friends, and I wanted to play for him.”
