BEVERLY — On a rainy morning where defense and goaltending ruled the day, it was a take charge offensive moment from Ally Bettencourt that kept the Peabody High girls lacrosse team atop the Northeastern Conference standings.
Following a turnover along the sidelines that gave her Tanners possession, Bettencourt took the ball down into the offensive half of the field, made a move after the defender slid and scored her fourth goal of the day for a 7-6 overtime victory over Beverly High at Frank Forti Field.
Peabody, which had trailed for most of the game, got important fourth quarter tallies from Bettencourt and Madi Barrett (2 goals) to erase a two-score deficit. Bettencourt, a midfielder, then ended this battle of NEC leaders a little over two minutes into the extra session with a power move towards the Panthers’ cage.
“We’ve had two overtime games the last two years and Ally has scored the winner both times,” said Peabody (4-2) head coach Michelle Roach, her team remaining unbeaten against NEC foes. “She’s just one of those players who’s very talented and speedy, and she has the patience to watch and wait for the right moment to make her move.”
It was a tough conference loss for Beverly (5-3 overall), which trailed for a shade over two minutes the entire game and often dictated the play. But the Tanner defense held them off the scoreboard for the final 17-plus minutes, and some costly turnovers wound up hurting.
“We worked on trying to settle it down, moving the ball around and getting lots of (offensive) players involved,” Panther head coach Courtney McKallagat said. “We were able to do that, but we also got in our heads a bit against a tough defense, struggled a few times, and had some uncharacteristic turnovers that hurt us in the end.
“Still, I loved that immediately after the game ended, my girls were like, ‘When do we have them again?’ They know who they are as a team, and they know what they want this season,” she added. “They know they can be better. But against Peabody, if you don’t have all cylinders firing, they’re going to take advantage.”
Beverly’s defense — particularly Joselyn Silva, Charlotte Miller, Morgan Linskey and goaltender Madeline Reynolds (13 saves) did a fine job slowing down Peabody’s explosive junior scoring star, Brooke Lomasney (2 assists), with help defense and stick checks. By doing so, however, it freed up Bettencourt and Barrett to shine.
“Brooke is such an amazing player, so when the other teams focus on (her), it opens up opportunities for everyone else,” said Bettencourt.
Caitlin Snow also had a great game in net for the Tanners, making 10 saves. Defenders Kayla Landry, Addie Merrill, Connie Patturelli and Kristen Vinagro were essential in helping her see shots clearly and forcing Beverly’s top offensive talents to work for any shots they got off.
“Caitlin has been making these huge saves that keep momentum, or give us momentum, at key moments when we need them all season, and today was no different,” said Roach. “When we’re fighting the ball a bit, she’s the one to settle us down and get us going.”
Samantha Sprissler and Silva gave Beverly a 2-0 lead in the second quarter, with Lily Shea picking up her 100th career assist on the latter. But Peabody tied it before the break on connections from Barrett and Bettencourt.
Victoria Vaz gave the visitors a 3-2 lead early in the third before Sprissler and Shea scored six seconds apart. Bettencourt tied it at 4-4, but Sasha Miller and Mads LeBlanc responded as the Panthers took a 6-4 lead into the fourth. There, Bettencourt and Barrett found the back of the net to tie it once again.
“Words of encouragement from everyone really helped us stay positive when we were trying to rally,” said Bettencourt. “We knew we had to stay composed so that when we had possession, we could work the ball slowly and find the best option, not just any option. Ultimately, that really helped knowing which times to shoot and which times to pass off.”
Beverly had a last second chance to win it, but Shea’s shot out front was turned aside by Snow.
“Both goalies were absurd today,” said McKallagat. “You don’t see 7-6 scores in girls’ lacrosse too often.”