PEABODY — Whenever possible, the Bishop Fenwick boys lacrosse team wants to get as many of its players into a given contest. It not only gives those bench guys valuable game experience, but also strengthens the program for the future.
That wasn’t an issue Wednesday night.
The Crusaders raced out to a 12-goal lead at halftime and wound up with a 14-5 victory over their arch rivals from St. Mary’s of Lynn.
Midfielder Joey Marshall scored three goals with two assists, fellow senior captain Anthony Sasso also had three tallies, and sophomore attack Dylan Patturelli had one goal and three assists to power Fenwick (now 3-1) offensively.
Marshall’s prettiest goal came with his team down a man when he circled behind the Spartans’ net, came out to the left of the goaltender and appeared to be running away from the cage before flicking a no-look shot over his shoulder into the cage.
The Crusaders led 5-0 after one quarter and 13-1 at the break, allowing head coach Dave McKenzie to empty his bench for the majority of the final 24 minutes.
After freshman starter Warren Dubois made three first half stops, sophomore first-time lacrosse player Liam Kelsch replaced him at goaltender and finished with seven saves.
“Liam never played before this year, but he’s picked it up pretty quickly. He did what he did today in a rivalry game vs. a Catholic Central League rival,” said McKenzie. “Warren had lacrosse experience but never in net, so those two guys have done a great job for us.”
Juniors Nathaniel ‘Sparkles’ Ricciutti and Aidan Byrne both had two goals for Fenwick, with Ricciutti also picking up an assist. Faceoff ace and captain Luke Connolly added one goal and one assist; Anthony Nichols and Jace Mansi had single tallies, and CJ Masone had one assist.
Bishop Fenwick defenders Tyler Connolly, Mason Fullerton, long stick middie Lincoln Dugan, and captain Kieran Corcoran created a multitude of turnovers. McKenzie also praised sophomore middie Jack Simoneau for making several “middle passes” that he took in the middle of the field, then transitioned up to the offense and resulted in Crusader tallies.
“Jack won’t get points for what he did, but his lacrosse IQ of knowing when to switch the field and get the ball for us in scoring position, you can’t teach that. You have to instinctively have that, and Jack had it in spades today,” said McKenzie.
St. Mary’s of Lynn got three goals from Evan Toto and one apiece from Cade Cornell and Finn Racki. Goaltender Steven Lake stopped 13 shots.
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