Lynn Shamrocks senior co-captain Corey Wojewodzic scored twice in the first quarter and tacked on another four goals before the final whistle, leading his team over the Lynn Tech Tigers, 11-3, in the season opener for both teams Tuesday at Manning Field.
?This was certainly as good as I could hope for, we?ve waited an incredibly long time to get out there, we finally got the season started and Corey played great today,” Shamrocks coach Peter Pappagianopoulos said. “Corey?s one of our leaders, one of our senior captains, and he took control in this one.”
Wojewodzic supplied the only scores the Shamrocks would need, getting his third goal when he beat Tiger goalie Ryan Lippert to make it 4-1 with 10:28 left in the second quarter. Jesus Contreras, Sean Hemenway, Tyler Craig, and Jack Stafford all had single strikes for the winners. Lynn Tech got goals from Jared Johnson, Zach Zimoroski, and Justin Taylor.
The Tigers will need to put the loss behind them, quickly, because they’ll be back in action tonight at Manning Field against Northeast Regional. Tech coach Jay Richards said his young club will need to shake off Tuesday?s loss and be ready to go against the Knights.
?It?s great to finally be out there, it was a great game, they played really, really well,” Richards said. “We have so many young guys who were playing on the varsity level for the first time. I only have five returning starters.
?I?m proud of the guys, they played hard and they never quit. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for, hustle and effort.”
The Shamrocks had the pressure on in the Tech end for most of the first half, and the Tigers didn’t get their first shot on goal until late in the first quarter.
?We did a really nice job as a team today, I thought we moved the ball around really well throughout the game,” Pappagianopoulos said.
Wojewodzic, who will share the captain’s duties this spring with Tyler Craig, Robert “Bubba” Comeau, and Thales Cesa, said it?s great to win the first one. Now it?s time to think about Malden, coming to Manning Field on Thursday.
?It?s a good way to start, good to get out on the field, we did a nice job offensively today, we have to keep it going against Malden,” Wojewodzic said.Scot Cooper can be reached at [email protected].