By HAROLD RIVERA
DANVERS — The St. John’s Prep lacrosse team was 0-for-3 and looking for its first win of the season when it ran onto the field on Thursday at the Brother Linus Complex to face Malden Catholic.
The Eagles left the field a couple of hours later in possession of their first win of the season, 12-1 over the Lancers.
The Prep unleashed 12 goals to support an 11-save performance from goalie Mitchell Carpenter, en route to the win.
“It feels good to win that first one,” Prep coach John Pynchon said. “We needed it, We talked about how we had to come out and get a win, and we did. So that felt good.”
The Lancers kept pace with the Eagles for the first half before the Prep pulled away in the latter stages.
Jack Richards got the Eagles on the board in the first minute of the opening quarter, and KJ Sarni added a goal with 3:53 to play in the period. The Eagles led 2-0 after the first quarter.
Tim Tyrell fired one into the back of the net, padding the Prep’s edge to 3-0 with 8:44 left in the second quarter.
Three minutes later, Richards found the back of the net for his second score of the afternoon.
The Eagles threatened Malden Catholic goalie Cam Arrigo with a handful of shots in the final minutes of the period, but the netminder held his ground and kept his team in the game. The Prep held a tight 4-0 advantage at the half.
With nine minutes to play in the third quarter, Eric Almquist beat Carpenter for a Lancers goal to trim the deficit down to 4-1. The Eagles answered quickly, as Zach Harde shot one past Arrigo to make it a four-goal lead again at 5-1.
From there, it was all Prep.
“When we struggle to get going offensively, it trickles down to what we’re doing on the rest of the field,” Lancers coach Matt O’Neil said. “There are only so many minutes in a game that you can be on the defensive end.”
Goals scored by PJ Lombara and Sarni put the Eagles ahead by six, 7-1, after three quarters.
“We put a bunch of stuff together and I felt the guys started to execute some stuff,” Pynchon said. “I think we did a good job shooting against a good goalie. There’s a lot we have to work on, but overall we’re starting to get it. It’s a good progression from the last three games to come out here and get the win.”
Pynchon was pleased to see his team keep its composure after the Lancers cut into the deficit.
“(It’s a) 4-0 game, they score one and make it 4-1. If they put another one in it’s a two-goal lead and everybody starts panicking,” Pynchon said. “We didn’t panic, we stuck with it and made the next couple plays which was good.”
The Eagles added five goals in the fourth quarter to ice the victory at 12-1.
Sarni’s goal with eight minutes left in the game gave him a hat trick on the afternoon.
Aside from a strong offensive showing, the Eagles received an impressive performance from Carpenter in net. Almquist’s goal for the Lancers was Carpenter’s lone blemish.
“He was excellent,” Pynchon said. “He let it in one goal and I think he’d want that one back. He almost pitched a shutout, which is really hard to do in lacrosse.”
The Eagles (1-3) visit Marblehead Tuesday, while Malden Catholic (0-3) looks for its first win on Saturday at Beverly.
“We have to make some better shots,” O’Neill said. “Credit to Prep’s goalie (Carpenter), he stood tall and made a lot of saves. We just have to keep pushing.”
The win was Pynchon’s first as Prep’s coach.