SWAMPSCOTT — After jumping out to an early lead, the Bishop Fenwick boys lacrosse team ended up having to survive a late Swampscott rally before eventually beating the Big Blue, 8-6, in the season-opening game for both teams at Blocksidge Field on Monday.
“Everytime we play these guys, it’s this kind of game,” said Fenwick coach Steve Driscoll. “And I think it’s really beneficial for both teams to start out with a tough game like this to set the tone for the rest of the year. I’m happy our guys were able to come together and open the season with a solid win.”
Fenwick got a great performance from newcomer Diego Alvarez-Segee, a sophomore attacker who transferred in from Malden Catholic this season. Alvarez-Segee had two goals and one assist in his debut for the Crusaders.
“Honestly, we didn’t know too much about him coming into this year, but he’s a great player,” Driscoll said of Alvarez-Segee. “He’s only a sophomore, and I think he’ll benefit so much from being on the field with guys like Brian (Harrington) and Derek (DelVecchio) this year.”
Junior captain Derek DelVecchio led the way with three goals and one assist for Fenwick, while junior Brian Harrington added two goals. Freshman midfielder Stefano Fabiano had one goal and two assists. Junior goalie Garrett Ruszkowski had 16 saves in the win, including some big saves down the stretch to hold the lead.
Swampscott got a big day from Kyle Fitzgerald, who had three goals and one assist. Ethan Eichler had one goal and three assists, while Collin Walsh had one goal and one assist and Joe DeSalvo had one goal.
“The best part about playing games like this against Fenwick is that the game is played the right way,” said Swampscott coach Todd Pierce. “It’s just two teams going at it and competing hard with no nonsense.”
The Crusaders got off to a hot start and nearly looked like they were going to run away with this one, putting together a few high-quality plays to get goals from DelVecchio and Harrington and take a 2-0 lead within the first three minutes of action. Swampscott was able to slow the bleeding on a goal from DeSalvo with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter, but Fenwick answered with two more goals (one from Alvarez-Segee and another from DelVecchio) to take a 4-1 lead into the first break.
Swampscott began to settle in more in the second quarter, notching a goal less than two minutes in when Eichler hit Fitzgerald for the first of four connections on the day. But once again, Fenwick responded with two goals in a 30-second span (this time on tallies from Alvarez-Segee and Fabiano) to stretch the lead back to three goals.
Things could have gone downhill from there for Swampscott, but the Big Blue never stopped fighting. Eichler and Fitzgerald connected two times in a row for goals, the first one scored by Eichler on a Fitzgerald assist and the second scored by Fitzgerald on an Eichler assist, to bring the score to just 6-4 Fenwick going into halftime.
Fenwick tried to take the momentum back right away to start the third, with Harrington scoring his second goal of the game less than two minutes into the quarter to make it 7-4. It took a long time for another goal to be scored, but when it happened it was Eichler and Fitzgerald again. With just 2.3 seconds left in the third, Eichler hit Fitzgerald with a pass right in front of the net and Fitzgerald buried it to get the deficit back down to two goals.
That momentum carried into the start of the fourth quarter, as Walsh scored an unassisted goal just over three minutes in to make it a one-goal game. The Big Blue continued to press and got some good chances, but in the end it was Fenwick who scored the deciding goal. With just over five minutes to go in the game, Fabiano sent a pass over to Alvarez-Segee, who proceeded to score a goal to seal the win for the Crusaders.
Fenwick (1-0) will host Cardinal Spellman on Wednesday (4), while Swampscott will host Manchester-Essex on Thursday (4).