IPSWICH — Boys lacrosse at the high school level is a game consisting of four 12-minute quarters. But what the Ipswich Tigers did in the first quarter Thursday afternoon made the final three more or less insignificant.
The Tigers played as if they were performing a ‘how to’ instructional video, winning faceoff after faceoff and turning fast breaks into easy goals, shooting out to a seven-goal lead after just a dozen minutes. They were never seriously threatened after that, toppling North Reading, 13-7, on the turf at Jack Welch Stadium.
Christian Gianakakis won 9-of-10 faceoffs in that opening stanza and finished 17-for-22 on the day. Starting time and time again in the Hornets’ zone, Ipswich was able to find seams in the defense and score quickly to increase its lead.
“Christian is getting better and better each week,” long-time IHS head coach Glenn Foster said. “A lot of winning faceoffs these days comes down to quickness, and he’s got that. He knows when the whistle goes and when to anticipate that cadence.”
A former defensive pole, Vin Winter — back playing lacrosse after not having done so since he was an eighth grader — had three of his four goals in that first half. He and fellow junior attackmen Finn Wright (5 goals, 2 assists) and Luke Wile (3 goals) were locked in early, and the scoreboard kept changing numbers as a result.
“This team’s got some speed. Massimo Pinsky can run, Zane Norton (goal, 2 assists) can run, (defender) Spencer (McDavitt) can run, (LSM and captain) Louie can run,” said Foster. “When you can run, you can fast break and we did that very well in that first quarter. It’s a matter of working with each other and knowing where everyone should be.
“Vin, with his basketball and football quarterbacking background, just seems to know where to go offensively,” he added. “He had six goals in our first game (and now 18 in five games). He knows where the weak spot is and sits in it, gives a little fake, goes around his man and scores.”
Trevor Manning assisted on one goal for Ipswich, which saw netminder Connor Wright turn aside nine shots.
Senior attack Logan Pemberton (4 goals) did what he could to keep North Reading in the game; his final goal cut the Hornets’ deficit to five (11-6) with 4:46 to play. But Wright scored back-to-back goals, one off a ground ball turnover in the offensive end, to seal the deal for good.
“There are certainly things we need to work on and get better at, like playing hard the entire way,” said the ever-coaching Foster. “But what we saw early on (Thursday), that’s the way we’re capable of playing all the time when we put our minds to it.”
Contact Phil Stacey
@PhilStacey_SN