ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Zachary Talbot (left) celebrates a goal with Derek Delvecchio in Thursday’s win.
By MIKE ALONGI
PEABODY — It may have taken until the final game of the season, but the Bishop Fenwick boys lacrosse team earned a berth in the state tournament with a 15-7 win over the Medford Mustangs on Senior Day at Donaldson Field on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
“We came out a little out of our element because of all the Senior Day festivities, but the guys settled in quickly and started fast,” said Fenwick coach Steve Driscoll. “I think we responded really well in the second half and were able to step on the gas pedal, which is really good especially now that we’re heading to the state tournament.”
Zach Talbot led the way for the Crusaders with five goals, while Derek DelVecchio added four goals and two assists. Brian Harrington added two goals and one assist, John Cataldo had two goals and Chris Terry had one goal and two assists. Brandon Kennedy had one goal, while Cam McCarthy and Chris Cataldo each had one assist.
The Crusaders were able to jump out to an early lead, with goals from Cataldo and Talbot coming within the first seven minutes of the game. After Jack Lonergan scored to get Medford on the board, Kennedy netted a goal for Fenwick to keep the lead at two. Tommy Cawerny scored with 1:26 left in the first to make it a 3-2 game.
The second quarter was just as evenly matched. Talbot and DelVecchio each scored within the first 1:06 of the quarter to take a 5-2 lead, and it looked like the Crusaders might be able to run away with it. But the Mustangs went on a run of three unanswered goals from Geraldy Pascal, Cam Allen and Jovan Hudson to go into halftime with the score tied at 5-5.
“I didn’t have to tell the guys anything in particular at the half, because the guys know that we’ve been in survival mode for the past week or so anyway,” said Driscoll. “Ever since we lost a close one to Arlington Catholic last week, we haven’t been able to lose and the guys knew that.”
Whatever they talked about at the half worked wonders, as the Crusaders came out and notched five unanswered goals from DelVecchio, Cataldo, Terry, Harrington and Talbot to blow the game open at 10-5 with four minutes left in the third quarter. When Medford showed even the slightest sign of life with a Nick Dunn goal with 3:31 left, Fenwick answered right back with another goal by DelVecchio.
“The key for us was to just possess the ball,” said Talbot. “Coach kept telling us to possess and take as many shots as we could. I know I took as many shots as I could, and look where it got us.”
Fenwick opened the fourth quarter with goals from Harrington and Talbot to push the lead to 13-6 before Medford responded with a goal from Cawerny. After Medford tried to turn up the heat for a comeback one final time, the Crusaders cooled them right down with goals from DelVecchio and Talbot to put the game out of reach.
With the win, Fenwick evens out its record at 10-10 and will now enters Driscoll’s first state tournament as a head coach.
“Obviously it feels good for me, but I feel much happier for the guys,” said Driscoll. “Obviously they’ve put in the work, and at this point the coaching stuff has been done. It’s all on these guys to execute from here on.”
For seniors like Cataldo, who remember qualifying for the tournament two years ago, it’s nice to be back.
“It’s great to be back, but it’s a much better feeling this year being a senior and being a leader on the team,” said Cataldo. “Losing and missing the tournament by a game last year really stung for me and I know it stung for a lot of other guys, so we just didn’t want to have a repeat of last year and we made sure of it.”
The Crusaders will now await their seeding when the tournament pairings are announced.