LYNNFIELD — The St. Mary’s girls lacrosse team dealt with injuries and inexperience throughout the season. Underclassmen did a solid job in stepping into key roles and turning in solid performances, meaning the future looks bright for the Spartans.
Monday night at Lynnfield High, however, saw St. Mary’s drop a 14-1 loss to the Pioneers. With the loss St. Mary’s finished the season at 9-11, one win shy of a berth in the state tournament.
“They (injuries) came hard over the past few weeks,” Spartans coach K.C. Butt said. “Stress fractures, leg injuries. Codi (Butt), the last game against Lynnfield (May 19) she got a fractured wrist and she hasn’t played since. That’s three games without her. That hurt and two of our attackers were out with major injuries. Everybody was a bit beat up and tired.”
The lone goal for St. Mary’s was scored by Madi Hentosh. Goalie Lauren Vaccaro played a solid game in net.
For the Pioneers, Olivia Sarni led the offense with five goals. Liv Smyrnios added three goals and three assists and Ashley Barrett scored twice. Jenna Lannon, Sophia Ellis, Liz Sykes and Tori Morelli each scored one goal. Morelli also logged five draw controls and Gracie Sperling dished two assists.
Draws were a key part of Lynnfield’s win.
“We did a pretty good job on the draws,” Pioneers coach Ethan Blanchette said. “That’s something that we work on. We’ve done well against teams we should beat and we struggle on it against strong competition. That’s something we’ll continue to work on.”
Lynnfield raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 15 minutes thanks to four goals from Sarni and one from Smyrnios. St. Mary’s got one back when Hentosh fired a shot into the back of the net with 8:25 to play in the first half. Smyrnios answered with a goal for Lynnfield 15 seconds later and the Pioneers never looked back.
“We don’t have any one player that we rely on,” Blanchette said. “Ashley, Olivia and Liv have all led the team in goals multiple times this season. We have several players that can score goals in bunches. Olivia has done a good job this season.”
Lynnfield closed the first half with a pair of scores from Barrett and one goal each from Sarni and Morelli, to lead 10-1 at recess.
With a nine-goal lead and in total control, the Pioneers played relaxed through the second half. St. Mary’s showed no quit but the Pioneers stepped up on the defensive end through the final whistle, limiting the Spartans of clean looks at the net. Lynnfield added four goals in the second half for the 14-1 win.
“When you possess the ball, you’re able to control the game,” Blanchette said. “That’s what we were able to do today. We had the ball way more than they did. Our attackers did a good job forcing turnovers in the re-defend and our defense did a good job limiting their scoring opportunities.”
The Pioneers close the regular season at 11-7 and await the tournament pairings.
St. Mary’s looks to next season with optimism after a group of young players received valuable playing experience.
“I had a few kids out there that have never played before,” Butt said. “There were at least two of them all season and then three or four that played two years. We’re coming from all over and we’re teaching kids from basketball and hockey how to play lacrosse. I’m still proud of them. They have to hold their heads up.”