LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield boys lacrosse team jumped out to an early lead and kept its foot on the gas Wednesday, defeating visiting Bishop Fenwick, 15-7.
Will Norton and Kelan Cardinal provided most of the Pioneers’ offense. Norton scored seven goals and had two assists, while Cardinal finished with four goals and five assists.
For Fenwick (7-3), Dylan Patturelli scored three goals and Joey Marshall and Nathaniel Ricciuto scored two goals each.
Lynnfield (6-2) led 5-1 after the first quarter and bumped the lead to 9-3 at the half.
The game was penalty-plagued from start to finish with both teams combining for 21 penalties.
Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said a big factor in the outcome was the way the Pioneers responded to his halftime break message.
“The message was, ‘You guys need to feed yourselves and tell yourselves to keep your foot on the gas,’” Lamusta said. “Stay competitive, don’t ever be comfortable. They responded. They got the message. It got very physical out there with all those penalties. We had to remind them to just play lacrosse, keep it clean, and we’ll come out of here with a win, and that’s what they did for the most part.”
Fenwick coach Dave MacKenzie said falling behind early was the kiss of death for his Crusaders.
“We spotted them an early lead off a couple of errors and they executed, so you can’t fault them for that,” MacKenzie said. “Had we been mentally strong in those areas, they wouldn’t have gotten those opportunities. It’s just so hard to play catch-up against a good program like Lynnfield.”
While the Pioneers’ offense was clicking, Lamusta said that what he liked most about the game was the way his players moved without the ball.
“I love our offense this year,” Lamusta said. “Our off-ball movement has been great so far like it was today, in terms of perpetual motion and catching defenders when they were napping. You saw a lot of that today – the off-ball cuts. It’s about just reading your teammates and the defender, then cut, and go. An example of that was Owen Doherty’s three goals, just off-ball cutting and Kelan’s constant movement. He is the motion of our offense.”
Both coaches highlighted the play of their goalies. Lamusta credited Ben Pimental for making some “huge” saves.
“It’s a different game if he doesn’t make those saves. He gave us some wiggle room that allowed the offense to play a little more freely because he made those huge saves,” Lamusta said.
MacKenzie said freshman Warren Dubois “saw a lot of rubber today.”
“It’s a big number that he gave up, but when you look at it, it could have been a lot worse,” he said. “He made a lot of nice saves and he challenged their shooters. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. There are times when you rely on the goalie as the last line of defense. That was the case today. I think they all settled in, but it was just too late to catch up.”
Lynnfield’s John Powers (3 assists) and Evan Rocha (goal, 2 assists) also had multiple-point performances. As much as Lamusta liked the offensive production, he also loved the defensive work from midfield and back.
“A.J. Chiaradonna had to compete with their best offensive guy and he did an awesome job,” he said. “Aidan Norton continues to be great on defense and Nico Antidormi and Jake Connell did an awesome job clearing the ball today to give the offense opportunities. And we also have three short-stick middies in Alex Bladini, Dhimitri Dono and Owen White. I have never had a year when I’ve had three solid short-stick middies. They are lovely guys and they are awesome.”
MacKenzie gave a shout out to Marshall.
“Joey Marshall was all over the place both offensively and defensively, which may have been a detriment,” he said. “We probably should have done a better job as coaches getting him off the field defensively so he could take a little bit of a break, but that’s the competitor in him.”
Lynnfield’s next game is Friday at 4 p.m. at home against Cape Ann League rival Hamilton-Wenham. The Pioneers will be gunning for a season sweep, having defeated the Generals, 18-6, in early April.
Fenwick’s next game is Friday against traditional archrival St. Mary’s at Manning Field (Lynn) at 5 p.m.
“We won against them before and I am hoping we will just build off that and win again,” MacKenzie said. “St. Mary’s, every year, is always a tough game. It’s a rivalry game for both of us, so that gets the boys a little more excited. Hopefully, we will show up and be ready to go from the opening minute.”
