The No. 4 Lynnfield boys lacrosse team may have been a little slow coming out of the gate in the first quarter, but the Pioneers more than made up for it over the next three, trouncing No. 29 Triton 19-8 at home in the opening round of the Division 4 tournament Monday afternoon.
Tied at 3-3 with a little more than three minutes to go in the opening quarter, the Pioneers closed out the half with a 9-1 run to lead 12-4 at the half. They kept their foot on the gas in the third quarter, outscoring the Vikings 6-1 to take a commanding 18-5 edge into the final 12 minutes. All that was left at that point was to run down the clock and think about the next one – a rematch with No. 13 Swampscott and a chance to avenge the Pioneers’ 8-7 loss to the Big Blue in the opening game of the season back in April. That game is scheduled to be played Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. (results too late to print).
“They (Vikings) had a bunch of kids who can shoot,” head coach Pat Lamusta said. “So overall, while we did have a couple of penalties, we were happy with the way the defense played and it was nice to get some of the reserves in. After Jake Connell (ground ball) came out with an injury, Brendan Driscoll and Gabe Shumacher (ground ball) really stepped up to fill that role.”
Will Norton hit a milestone, notching the 100th point of his career. He finished with seven goals, one assist and four ground balls.
“He continues to help our transition game in a big way,” Lamusta said.
Lamusta said the Pioneers were “clicking” in every phase of the game, avoiding ill-advised penalties and keeping their minutes in the pen to a minimum.
“It was better today but it’s still not where we need to be. The goal is to have zero – none,” Lamusta said. But I agree, even though we had a couple of sloppy ones, it was better. Overall, the first half was nice and clean, but we had a few weird ones in the second half that I’d rather not see.”
Lamusta gave a shoutout to several players.
“In the faceoff circle, Tyler Maddocks (3 ground balls) just kept at it. He struggled a little early on but just kept at it, using his speed in the second phase getting the ground ball,” Lamusta said. “Will, seven goals, continues to help in transition. Evan Rocha (assist) stepped up as an attackman. Murph (Michael Murphy), four goals and three assists had a fantastic game. He has really evolved into a guy who can play goal line to goal line. He’s been awesome. Niccolo Antidormi had five ground balls and even got a shot on net in transition. Aidan Norton (ground ball) continues to be a very skilled defenseman. That kid got the ball up to our attackers today.”
Owen Doherty (3 goals, assist), Owen Considine (3 goals, ground ball), Owen Mullin (3 goals, ground ball), Kelan Cardinal (3 goals, 2 assists), and A.J. Chiaradonna (3 ground balls) also contributed.
