In a Round of 16 Division 4 matchup between host and No. 4 Lynnfield and No. 13 Swampscott, both teams battled to the bitter end, but by the time the dust settled, it was the Big Blue moving on to the Elite Eight with a 9-7 win last Wednesday.
Trailing 5-4 at the half, the Big Blue turned up the defensive pressure, holding Lynnfield to just two second-half goals. Down by two with five minutes left, Lynnfield’s Owen Considine buried a pass from Will Norton to make it 8-7. The Pioneers had several good looks at netting the equalizer, only to come up empty. With 33 ticks left on the clock, Swampscott put the nail in the Pioneers’ coffin with an insurance goal.
Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said he felt Swampscott had the edge in finishing its transition game, especially in the third quarter.
“We took a timeout there to circle the wagons, but we just needed to convert on a few more opportunities to keep pace,” Lamusta said. “I thought they were a very good transition team. But to hold them to under 10 goals, you just think you can score enough goals to get it done. We did our best to battle. It just wasn’t there in the end when there was an elevated stress level. There were a lot of 50-50 balls, jump-ball plays, ground-ball plays, chase-to-the-line plays. It was just that close. It really felt like that the whole game.”
Lamusta highlighted the defensive play of Brendan Driscoll, who was filling in for the injured Jake Connell and several other players he thought played well..
“I thought he played pretty well defending their No. 5 (Chase Russo). He really did step up,” Lamusta said. “He’s been a much-improved player for us this year. I thought Will chipped in as always as did his brother Aidan. Just Mike Murphy and Kelan (Cardinal) as well. Maybe the stat sheet didn’t show it today, but they have been our two-way midfielders who are the engine of the offense. Then you have guys like Alex Baldini and Owen White and Dhimitri Dono – D-middies who run around like chickens with their heads cut off. They and our O-middies just worked their tails off all year. Nicco also can be very dynamic and has been our Mr. Fixit. We can use him all over the place because of his speed. He’s just a jack-of-all-trades.”
Will Norton (3 goals, assist) and Michael Murphy (goal, assist) led the Pioneers’ offense, while Owen Doherty (goal, assist), Evan Rocha, and Considine also scored. Kelan Cardinal and Aidan Norton dished out assists.
Lynnfield goalie Ben Pimental wasn’t too shabby, finishing with 12 saves. Truth be told, Lamusta said he kept the Pioneers in the game.
“He was awesome today. Those were huge saves and most of them were from in tight,” he said. “He played an excellent game and gave us a chance to stay in it and win it.”
Lamusta said he’s been blessed with a “lot of skilled players” this season.
“We’ve been lucky to have so much skill and we were hoping to make more of a push this year so we are all disappointed for sure. We competed in a tight-second round game, regardless of seed and we were able to win the league this year for the first time in 15 years since 2009. We have a lot of guys coming back particularly on the offensive end, so we are pretty eager to make lacrosse a priority and really take it to another level.
The loss brings an end to the high school careers of several senior Pioneers, starting with captains Owen White, Jake Connell and A.J. Chiardonna.
“Jake and A.J. have been longtime leaders of the group and then Owen stepped right up as a leader when he came back from private school and junior captain Kelan Cardinal was the glue guy between the senior and junior classes. They have been tremendous all season long with vocal leadership in tight games and leading by performing and by example.”
Other graduating seniors include Antidormi, Baldini, Jimmy Atsales, Dono, Drew McKinnon, Rocha and Owen White.
Lamusta said the defensive unit was a “senior-led group. A.J., Jake, Niccolo, Owen White, Dhimitri and Jimmy Atsales all were either defensemen or defensive midfieders. We were fortunate to have a senior-heavy back end this year with a combination of experience and athleticism.”
Lamusta singled out the efforts of Rocha.
“He did a great job working the offensive system attack and I’ll never forget his game-winning goal at Pentucket. We will miss his steady demeanor on the offensive end for sure.”
Swampscott went on to defeat No. 5 Cohasset 9-8 in the Elite Eight and was scheduled to play top-seeded Nantucket on June 11 in the Final Four (results too late to print).
