Newburyport was so complete of a team this year on its way to another Kinney title and an undefeated season in the league, that it would have been tough to narrow it down to just one player who stood above the rest.
So the Cape Ann League just didn’t worry about that incredibly tough task.
With the recent release of the end-of-season CAL boys lacrosse awards, the Kinney MVP honor was split between teammates Colin Fuller and Brian Lucy. When the dust had settled on the spring, it was Fuller standing atop our area scoring leaderboard with 62 goals and 31 assists, while the Saint Anselm-commit Lucy is on a very short list of best defenders in the league — and is probably No. 1. Fuller also finally earns his spot on the 17-person All-CAL First Team after being named a CAL All-Star the past two years, while Lucy ends his career a two-time All-CAL selection and one-time CAL All-Star.
So, basically, an MVP on offense, and an MVP on defense.
And Newburyport certainly wasn’t done when it came to league honors.
The Clippers (18-2) were a dominant club all year before a surprising, tough loss in the Division 3 Round of 16, but were still justly rewarded for what they were able to accomplish. Also making the All-CAL First Team were the high-scoring duo of senior captain Eli Sirota (34g, 28a) and junior midfielder Carter Scott (38g, 6a), as well as junior faceoff specialist Matt Page. The scoring numbers are easy to see for both Sirota and Scott, but this is now the second straight year that Page — who won 70% of his faceoffs this spring (196-of-281) — has been named All-CAL.
Then a pair of senior captains were also honored, as both do-it-all specialist Henry Walker and goalie Brendan Grossman were named CAL All-Stars for Newburyport. Their coach, Josh Wedge, was named the Kinney Coach of the Year, while his top assistant, Tom Keller, was named the Assistant Coach of the Year. Finally, the Clippers have an impressive three Academic All-American nominees between Fuller, Walker and fellow senior Tyler Chorebanian.
Moving on, it was fun to watch Pentucket’s young core take that next step.
This is now the second straight year that Aiden Napolitano has made the All-CAL First Team, as the junior did a bit of everything for the Panthers and finished with 29 goals and 12 assists. Another junior in Mac Cole (72g, 10a) was also named All-CAL after leading our area in goals, as was high-scoring sophomore Nate Stys (56g, 19a) — who made the jump up after being on the CAL All-Star team a year ago. Then for fellow sophomore Michael Torrisi (17g, 36a), his high school career has now started with back-to-back appearances on the CAL All-Star team.
Swinging over to Amesbury, the illustrious career of program pioneer Max White ends with his third straight All-CAL nod. The midfielder and UMass Boston commit would pour in a team-high 45 goals with 14 assists, and nearly brought the team to its first playoff appearance. The Redhawks would then also see sophomore midfielder Evan Murphy (40g, 6a) earn a spot on the CAL All-Star list.
Finally, it was a trying year for Triton on the field, but the future certainly has promise. The Vikings earned three CAL All-Star selections in juniors Paxton Laky (44g, 14a), Cam McDonald (27g, 6a) and Liam Cummings (defense), who, of course, are all in line to return next year.
Here are the complete CAL All-Star teams for boys lacrosse.
All-CAL
Amesbury: Max White, Sr., midfield; Ipswich: Finn Wright, Jr., attack; Will Gromko, Jr., defense; Louis Harrington, Jr., specialist; Lynnfield: Kelan Cardinal, Sr., midfield; Michael Murphy, Sr., midfield; Manchester Essex: Jarrett Croft, Sr., defense; Charlie Thurlow, Jr., attack; Aaron Crompton, Jr., goalie; Newburyport: Colin Fuller, Sr., attack; Eli Sirota, Sr., midfield; Brian Lucy, Sr., defense; Matt Page, Jr., specialist; Carter Scott, Jr., midfield; Pentucket: Mac Cole, Jr., midfield; Aiden Napolitano, Jr., defense; Nate Stys, Soph., attack
CAL All-Stars
Amesbury: Evan Murphy, Soph., midfield; Essex Tech: Timothy Tavares, Sr., attack; Mason Gadbois, Jr., attack; Jack Hanchett, Soph., defense; Hamilton-Wenham: Billy Brown, Soph., midfield; Will Seigel, Soph., defense; Ipswich: Luke Wile, Jr., attack; Lynnfield: Brendan Driscoll, Jr., defense; Ben Pimentel, Sr., goalie; Manchester Essex: Jack McCavanagh, Jr., attack; Conrad Garfield, Soph., specialist; Newburyport: Henry Walker, Sr., specialist; Brendan Grossman, Sr., goalie; North Reading: Andrew Taylor, Sr., defense; Finn Rodger, Sr., midfield; David Tran, Sr., goalie; Pentucket: Michael Torrisi, Soph., attack; Triton: Paxton Laky, Jr., attack; Cam McDonald, Jr., attack; Liam Cummings, Jr., defense
Miscellaneous Awards
Kinney MVP: Colin Fuller and Brian Lucy, Newburyport.
Baker MVP: Louie Harrington, Ipswich.
Coach of the Year (Kinney): Josh Wedge, Newburyport.
Coach of the Year (Baker): Wes Chittick, Manchester Essex.
Assistant Coach of the Year (Kinney): Tom Keller, Newburyport.
Assistant Coach of the Year (Baker): Jake Patterson, Ipswich.
Sportsmanship (Kinney): Pentucket.
Sportsmanship (Baker): Amesbury.
Kinney Champion: Newburyport.
Baker Champion: Manchester Essex.
Academic All-American Nominees: Max White, Amesbury; Tyler Chorebanian, Newburyport; Colin Fuller, Newburyport; Henry Walker, Newburyport.