SAUGUS — Peabody’s girls lacrosse team (12-5) traveled to Saugus (3-13) and walked away with a 14-1 win Tuesday evening.
The Tanners came out hot, scoring eight goals in the first quarter. Victoria Vaz, Brooke Lomasney, Ally Bettencourt, Madi Barrett and Leah Bresnahan were first-half scorers.
Vaz reached 50 career points — a milestone celebrated by the team postgame.
Another story of the first half was the connection between Bettencourt and Lomasney. At one point, they assisted each other on three consecutive goals.
“They’ve been playing together since they were younger, so they have that strong connection,” said Peabody Coach Michelle Roach. “Over the last four years, it has only gotten stronger. What’s really cool about them is they know where each other are. They have different strengths and weaknesses, and they complement each other.”
Despite leading 12-0 at halftime, the Tanners continued to move the ball and create chances.
“We want to make sure we’re creating good habits and stuff. We were working on some off-ball picks, working on transition, and off-ball movement is so important,” Roach said. “It’s something that we saw constantly throughout the game, which was good.”
For Saugus, its lone goal came in the final minute when junior Layla Rodriguez found a cutting Aly Mabee.
“It was a beautiful play and something we’ve been working on all season,” said Saugus Coach Barbara Guarente. “That was a really nice pass. We had a few really nice passes today — Brooke (Diaz) to Layla as well — but Layla just missed it.”
From Peabody’s transition game to its ability to limit offensive chances, Roach enjoyed the overall game her team played.
“I thought we played really well. We limited shots to the net and looked good in transition,” she said. “That was one thing we came into the game talking about — our transition. Making sure we’re setting ourselves up for this game and future games. That’s an area we want to improve to make sure we’re moving the ball quickly, knowing where we’re going and being in good position. I think we did that really well today.”
Guarente enjoyed the play from her midfielders.
“The middies — this was the first time we’ve gotten three or four draws, which is a great improvement since we usually don’t get any,” she said. “They worked really hard and tried to hold their own.”
Saugus returns Thursday to host Marblehead at 5:30 p.m., while Peabody welcomes Beverly the same night at 7 p.m. with Lomasney aiming to eclipse the 500-point mark.
