LYNNFIELD — The No. 7 Lynnfield boys lacrosse team showed its potential against No. 26 Hamilton-Wenham with a 17-2 victory in the Division 4 state tournament.
Despite a slow first quarter that saw the Pioneers leading just 3-2 after, Lynnfield started to find its offensive flow in the second – starting with defense.
“Some of the defensive possessions ended with some great ground balls, which led into transitions,” Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said. “Our offense feeds off that energy and then our sidelines get involved.”
Lamusta commented on all of the little, but big, things.
“I feel like we really went after the ground balls today,” Lamusta said. “I thought face-offs and ground balls helped us control possession. After a slow start, the offense really got going.”
Two players who made an impact were senior Jack Calichman and sophomore Kelan Cardinal. Both Calichman and Cardinal controlled the pace of the game on the offensive end, and made the right play seemingly every time.
“They’re an excellent midfield duo,” Lamusta said. “Now it pretty much turned into a trio with [Drew] Damiani, Calichman, and Cardinal running the midfield.”
When asked what made Cardinal and Calichman so impactful, Lamusta highlighted some of their traits.
“They just pose matchup problems for other teams because they both have great vision and speed,” Lamusta said. “As a group, they’re a dynamic offense.”
Calichman found a cutting Will Norton (4 goals) who fired home a goal to give the Pioneers a 6-2 lead in the second quarter.
Lynnfield led 9-2 at halftime, but Lamusta wanted his boys to stay aggressive.
“Stay hungry, stay competitive. Don’t look at the score. It’s a new game,” Lamusta said of his halftime speech.
The Pioneers delivered, scoring two goals in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter.
“When we’re firing on all cylinders, we are a very good team,” Lamusta said.
It certainly was on fire, and the offensive movement both with – and without – the ball made a difference. Constant movement allowed for Calichman (3 goals and 5 assists) and Cardinal (5 goals and 5 assists) to find open teammates.
“Our off-ball movement is so much better than what it was at the beginning of the year,” Lamusta said. “The off-ball activity is so much better and we’re going to need it when we face teams that play really tight man-to-man defense.”
Lamusta praised the Generals for their season.
“Hamilton-Wenham had a great season,” Lamusta said. “They have a couple of guys who can really put the ball in the back of the net. They also have a pretty strong defense that can mix and match at times. Hats off to them for a great season.”
The No. 7 Pioneers will host No. 10 Manchester-Essex with the date and time to be announced.
It won’t be the first time these two teams face off, as the Pioneers lost to Manchester-Essex 10-9 earlier this year.
Lamusta is “excited” for the rematch.
“They’re an excellent team. When we played them earlier, it came down to the wire, basically a final shot,” Lamusta said. “[It was a] back-and-forth game, so they are a formidable opponent. We lost by one last time, so it’ll be a great game. We want another crack at them. We’re excited.”