Amesbury
Coach: Steve Costa (7th year, 45-52-5)
2024-25 record: 10-11-2, lost in Div. 2 Quarterfinals
Returners (15): Owen Bartniski, Sr., forward; Wes Akerman, Sr., forward; Thomas McElaney, Sr., forward; Logan Pickering, Sr., defense; Vincenzo Foster, Sr., goalie; Evan Murphy, Jr., defense; Logan Genualdo, Jr., defense; Lincoln Kime, Jr., defense; Ryan Guertin, Jr., defense; Charlie Nottingham, Soph., forward; Grady Stickney, Soph., forward; Jack Kusler, Soph., forward; Tommy Puorro, Soph., forward; Jacob Noyes, Soph., forward; Colin Brown, Soph., forward
Newcomers: Elijah Gaeta, Jr., goalie; Jack Puorro, Frosh., forward; James Gallo, Frosh., forward; Jordan Wilcox, Frosh., forward; Ryan Franz, Frosh., defense; Wyatt Swan, Frosh., defense; Issac Gilbert, Frosh, defense
Captains: Lincoln Kime (C), Evan Murphy (C), Wes Ackerman (A)
Returning point leaders: Grady Stickney: 16g, 10a; Wes Ackerman: 6g, 10a; Tommy Puorro: 2g, 14a; Evan Murphy: 5g, 10a; Lincoln Kime: 5g, 8a;
Returning honorees: Lincoln Kime: Daily News All-Star, All-CAL First Team; Evan Murphy: Daily News All-Star, All-CAL First Team
Fast Facts: In now two of the last three years, Amesbury has made surprise runs to the state quarterfinals as a No. 19 and a No. 26 seed. The Redhawks will have to deal with the graduation of four-time Daily News All-Star and last year’s MVP, Bodie Marcotte — who finished with 73 career goals and 65 assists. But what made last year’s run so promising was how young the team was, and now 15 of those pieces have returned this winter. … Amesbury will be strong defensively with the return of Daily News All-Star juniors Lincoln Kime and Evan Murphy. Kime is now a two-time Daily News All-Star who is also a talented golfer, while the three-sport standout Murphy just helped the football team reach the Division 7 Super Bowl as a star linebacker, and last spring scored 40 goals with 6 assists for the lacrosse team. … Ryan Guertin and Logan Genualdo will also be multi-year starters on the blue line, and senior Logan Pickering has made the switch to defense. Paired with a few promising freshmen, and the Redhawks should be able to roll out three defensemen pairings with experience. … Sophomore forward Tommy Puorro (2g, 14a) had a solid rookie year last winter, and now welcomes little brother Jack to the team. The two are the sons of Amesbury legend Tom Puorro, who is still the program’s all-time leading scorer (and second in Greater Newburyport history) with 107 goals and 91 assists scored between 1990-94. … Fellow sophomore Grady Stickney (16g, 10a) finished second on the team in scoring a year ago, so both the present and the future are incredibly bright for Amesbury. … Jack Kusler was just named a Daily News Golf All-Star after becoming the first Amesbury individual (along with teammate Gus Headrick) to qualify for the Division 3 State Meet in a decade. … Amesbury has started the year 2-0 after victories over Westborough (4-0) and Danvers (6-4). Eli Gaeta has been the team’s goalie in both wins, and Stickney already has four goals.
Assistants: Dan Marcotte, Jim Conlin
Newburyport
Coach: Paul Yameen (23rd year, 264-160-57)
2024-25 record: 12-10-2, lost in Div. 2 Round of 16
Returners (17): Davis Pons, Sr., forward; Jagger Gudaitis, Sr., defense; Luke Barbera, Sr., forward; Weston Puleo, Sr., defense; Owen Mongeau, Jr., forward; Luke MacIsaac, Jr., forward; Braden Arel, Jr., forward; Mason Varay, Jr., defense; Henry Waddell, Jr., forward; Sean Murray, Soph., goalie; Axel Becker, Soph., defense; Jack Sullivan, Soph., forward; Tyler Bergeron, Soph., defense; Thomas Gagnon, Soph., forward; Charlie Tramontana, Soph., defense; Mason DesRosiers, Soph., defense; Ethan Malio, Soph., goalie
Newcomers: Tyler Thorne, Jr., defense; Colin Curran, Jr., forward; Patrick Bavaro, Frosh., forward; Nolan Donovan, Frosh., forward
Captains: Luke MacIsaac, Henry Waddell
Returning honorees: Henry Waddell: Daily News All-Star, All-CAL First Team; Luke MacIsaac: Daily News All-Star, All-CAL First Team
Returning point leaders: Henry Waddell: 14g, 22a; Luke MacIsaac: 16g, 18a; Jack Sullivan: 13g, 12a; Owen Mongeau: 3g, 8a
Fast Facts: Since the new MIAA statewide tournaments started ahead of the 2021-22 season, Newburyport has made it to at least the Division 2 Round of 16 every year. … The strength of this year’s team will be in the forward room, where the Clippers return their top-3 scorers in Henry Waddell (14g, 22a), Luke MacIsaac (16g, 18a) and Jack Sullivan (13g, 12a). The trio were one of the best lines in the CAL last year, and they should get help this winter from Owen Mongeau, Tommy Gagnon and Braden Arel in the goal-scoring department. … Mongeau is coming off a solid fall for the football team where he had 161 rushing yards, 170 receiving yards and 3 total touchdowns, while MacIsaac scored 14 goals with 7 assists for the lacrosse team last year. … Waddell also plays lacrosse and scored 17 goals with 13 assists last spring. … Three-sport standout Davis Pons was just named a Daily News Golf All-Star for the second straight year, and last spring scored 41 goals with 19 assists for the lacrosse team. … Look for Jagger Gudaitis and Axel Becker to be leading the team in minutes on the blue line. … Newburyport has started the year 0-2, but its two losses came against perennially-strong programs in Waltham (4-2) and Franklin (2-1). Sophomore goalie Sean Murray has started both games, with MacIsaac (2) and Gagnon scoring the goals and Waddell (2), Arel and Sullivan having assists.
Assistant coaches: Jed Beauparlant, Jeff Gudaitis, Billy Boudreau, Jeffrey Wile
Pentucket
Coach: Dan Bly (5th year, 26-53-2)
2024-25 season: 9-13-1, lost in Div. 4 Round of 16
Returners (15): Mac Cole, Sr., defense; Reese King, Sr., defense; John Racki, Sr., forward; Chase Pelletier, Sr., forward; Josh Yoon, Sr., goalie; Owen Case, Jr., defense; Charlie Botto, Jr., defense; Sam Escobar, Jr., forward; Cooper LeColst, Jr., forward; Spiros Sakkas, Soph., defense; Caleb Coppo, Soph., forward; Will Furlong, Soph., defense; Hudson Botto, Frosh., forward; Brody LeColst, Frosh., forward; Jameson Sanborn, Frosh., forward
Newcomers: Richie Troville, 8th-grade., forward; Kyle Lachendro, 8th-grade., forward; Cam Ringuette, 8th-grade., forward
Captains: Mac Cole, Reese King, Chase Pelletier
Returning point leaders: Chase Pelletier: 29g, 10a; Mac Cole: 7g, 17a; Caleb Coppo: 0g, 12a; Reese King: 3g, 8a; Josh Yoon: 9-13-0, 3.59 GAA
Returning honorees: Chase Pelletier: Daily News All-Star, All-CAL First Team; Mac Cole: All-CAL First Team
Fast Facts: Depth will once again be the main question here, but Pentucket does return stars at all levels who led the team to the Division 4 Round of 16 last year. … Up front, returning Daily News All-Star forward Chase Pelletier led our area in goals last year (29), while finishing second in points (39). The Georgetown native is also a talented golfer, and he should get help in the scoring department from Caleb Coppo, Sam Escobar and Owen Case. … Then on the blue line, All-CAL First Teamer Mac Cole will play heavy minutes alongside fellow senior co-captain Reese King. A two-sport standout, Cole was a Daily News Lacrosse All-Star for us last spring after leading the area in goals (72) while finishing second in total points (82). … Finally, out back, Josh Yoon has returned for his third season as the team’s starting goalie. … Pentucket opened its season on Wednesday night hosting Methuen.
Assistants: Brad McGoven, Paul Cinquegrana
Triton
Coach: Sam Rennick (1st year)
2024-25 record: 15-6-2, lost in Div. 3 Quarterfinals
Returners (8): Greg Muse, Sr., forward; Josh Berger, Sr., goalie; Cullen Kohan, Jr., defense; Vaughn Gagnon, Jr., forward; Jase Hersey, Soph., forward; Josh Monteiro, Soph., forward; Max Pasquini, Soph., defense; Collin Ingalls, Soph., defense
Newcomers: Harry Mullen, Jr., forward; Kai Witt, Jr., defense; Cal Cole, Jr., forward; Greg Burger, Jr., forward; Riley Early, Soph., forward; Mason Fowler, Soph., forward; Carson Rumph, Frosh., forward; Patrick Schultz, Frosh., forward; Dalton Giusti, Frosh., forward; Tedy Magee, Frosh., defense; Lukas Witt, Frosh., defense; Alex Witt, Frosh., goalie; Coby Bedard, Frosh., goalie; Liam Sargent, 8th-grade., forward; Chance Monteiro, 8th-grade., forward
Captains: Cullen Kohan (C), Jase Hersey (A), Josh Monteiro (A)
Returning point leaders: Josh Monteiro: 3g, 6a; Cullen Kohan: 3g, 3a
Returning honorees: None
Fast Facts: It’s a new era in Triton, as the program is excited to welcome back proud alum Sam Rennick as its new coach. A member of the “Greater Newburyport Century Club,” Rennick scored 59 career goals to go along with 52 assists during his Vikings’ career spanning from 2016-19. He was named to the 2010s Daily News All-Decade Second Team, and went on to have a successful run at Fitchburg State. … Rennick replaces Ryan Sheehan, who went 108-67-16 with three state semifinal teams across his nine years with the program. Sheehan took over at Essex Tech, and the two programs will meet twice this season (1/10 and 2/11) … Rennick will get to mold Triton in his own image, as the Vikings graduated out an impactful 12-person senior class and lost their top-6 scorers. … Cullen Kohan will be a three-year starter on the blue line for Triton, and is also a talented golfer during the fall.
Assistants: Mike Beevers, Tom Girard, Colin Roberge