LYNN— Sometimes it’s tough to recover from a slow start.
That was theme of Wednesday evening’s game between the St. Mary’s and Archbishop Williams boys lacrosse teams- an 8-7 loss for the Spartans at Manning Field.
St. Mary’s fell behind 3-0 in the early stages and trailed by six goals, 7-1, at the end of the first half. But the Spartans crawled back in with a 5-0 run in the second half before falling just short of the come-from-behind win.
“Lacrosse is a game of momentum,” St. Mary’s coach Josh Field said. “It’ll swing one way or another. You just have to stay focused and know that you’re going to get your opportunities, which we did. I give the kids credit for believing in themselves and not getting too down.
“We have to come out ready to play,” Field added. “We have to come out ready to practice and ready to play. This was a perfect lesson for us.”
Midfielder Christian LeBert scored three goals to pace the Spartans. Attacker Brendan Laundry added two goals, while attackers Jaiden Moriello and Nick Napolitano each scored one goal.
Spartans goalie Kaden Quirk, a freshman, was kept on his toes by the Bishops from start to finish. Field credit Quirk for a strong performance.
“Kaden played great,” Field said. “When we give up a goal that’s a team goal. It’s never on the goalie. Kaden’s very mature for his age and he knows that. He was a leader today. He makes the saves but also the way he cleared the ball and made some assists. Offensively, our goalie got us back in the game.”
Williams got off to a quick start out of the gate in the first quarter. The Bishops scored the game’s first goal two and a half minutes into the evening. Five minutes later, they bumped their lead up to 3-0. St. Mary’s got one back with 16.5 seconds remaining in the opening period, when Laundry scored the Spartans first goal of the game. Williams led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Things didn’t get better for St. Mary’s in the second quarter. The Bishops scored 80 seconds into the period to cushion their lead to 4-1. Williams added three more goals to close the first half with a 7-1 lead.
“They were bringing our defensive midfielder down below and that was causing some confusion,” Field said. “That’s a place we’re not used to playing. We went to a zone, which kept our longpoles, our defenders down low. That kept us a bit more comfortable.”
St. Mary’s slimmed the deficit in the third quarter. LeBert scored with 6:11 left in the quarter. Laundry followed suit with with 2:02 to play in the quarter. After three, St. Mary’s trailed 7-3.
The Spartans placed the Bishops on their heels in the fourth quarter with three goals to cut the deficit down to 7-6. LeBert scored his second goal of the game 35 seconds into the quarter. Moriello found the back of the net less than a minute later to make it a 7-5 game. Napolitano’s goal with 6:22 to play made it a one-goal game at 7-6. Williams added an insurance goal to get the lead up to 8-6 before LeBert fired another shot into the net.
Down 8-7 with 2:43 to play, the Spartans pushed the tempo in search for the game-tying goal. Williams limited the late surge to hold onto the victory.
The Spartans (1-1) are back in action Monday at Fenwick.
BOYS LACROSSE
Fenwick 9, Spellman 4
Brian Harrington, Diego Segee and Derek DelVecchio each scored three goals for the Crusaders (2-0). Harrington and Segee each dished two assists, while DelVechcchio logged one. Goalie Garrett Ruszkowski made 16 saves in net. The Crusaders are back in action Friday when they visit Williams.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Fenwick 13, Spellman 9
Brigid Waldron scored four goals to lead the way for the Crusaders in the first win of the season. Cailyn Wesley (three goals), Brynn Bertucci (two goals), Colbi Flickinger (two goals, three assists), Francesca Carpinella (one goal) and Annie Talbot (one goal) also played well. Goalie Caitlyn Mckenzie tallied six saves in net.
“It feel good to get our first win,” first-year Fenwick coach Lidnsey Congdon said. “It was my first win as a coach so I was ecstatic. Seeing the girls execute some of the things we worked on in practice, it got me really excited. If we can make that type of progress in the second game, I’m excited to see how much we’ll improve through the rest of the season.”
Fenwick hosts Williams Friday (4).
Williams 10, St. Mary’s 9
The Spartans battled but fell just short of a win against Catholic Central League opponent Williams on the road. St. Mary’s (0-2) hosts Arlington Catholic Friday (5).