WEST NEWBURY — You just never know how teams are going to react after a long layoff.
Sure, both history and the metrics pointed to No. 7 Pentucket having the clear advantage over No. 26 Bellingham in Monday’s Division 4 first round boys lacrosse matchup — and they were both, ultimately, proven correct. But after a 12-day break between their last real game on May 20th, there was at least the question of if the Panthers would return to their home turf a little rusty?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: A resounding N.O.
Even after nearly two weeks of no live game acton, Pentucket made sure that Monday’s playoff game was basically over midway through the first quarter. The Panthers opened up an 11-0 lead after the opening frame, and played the entire second half under a running clock to eventually close out a 19-4 win.
“We haven’t had a real game since Ipswich,” said Pentucket coach Dan Leary. “We had a good scrimmage with Central Catholic, and I thought our last two practices were two of the better practices that we’ve had all year. So it was good to see us come out fast and have multiple scorers today.”
Yeah, this one was essentially over pretty early.
And like Coach Leary mentioned, his team was balanced on offense.
Aiden Napolitano (1g) and Senan Lucey (1g, 1a) were putting in work in the faceoff circle — among others in the rotation — and a combination of Henry Gagnon (4g, 1a), Michael Torrisi (3g), Steven Harper (3g), Mac Cole (2g) and Nate Stys (1g, 1a) made sure that their fellow starters had a quick and easy night. It was basically point-and-shoot from the opening faceoff for the Panthers, who would win possession, race down the field, and have a different athlete score a goal.
Then rinse and repeat.
“Obviously Aiden does a ton for us, whether he’s taking the faceoff or playing on the wing,” said Leary. “But we’ve always called the faceoffs a three-man unit, and once the ball is picked up by either team, it’s not just the three men, it becomes the entire team. So even though a lot of times one guy gets the focus, it’s really by committee.
“And they battle.”
Zack Tilton added a goal in the first quarter for Pentucket, and Charlie Botto, Charles Rec and Evan Accardi would all find the back of the net as well before the fun was over. So in total the Panthers had 11 different goal-scorers, and in net the combination of Brody Hines and Louis Martiniello didn’t see a ton of action, but still made 9 total saves.
And now, it sets up an interesting rematch two years in the making.
On Thursday at 6 p.m., Pentucket will welcome in No. 10 Sandwich for the Division 4 Round of 16. The two program’s met in the state quarterfinals in 2024, with the Blue Knights coming out on top down on the Cape.
“A handful of our guys remember taking that ride down there,” laughed Leary. “So they’re probably happy to have the game here instead.”
What’s it going to take to get revenge and take a bite out of Sandwich?
“It’s the things we’ve been talking about for the last month that we need to continue to get better at,” said Leary. “Cleaning up our transition game, communicating defensively and working for good shots offensively. So the message doesn’t change, it’s just the level of competition is getting tougher and tougher as we move forward.”
Pentucket 19, Bellingham 4
Division 4 First Round
Goals: Henry Gagnon 4, Michael Torrisi 3, Steven Harper 3, Mac Cole 2, Senan Lucey, Nate Stys, Aiden Napolitano, Charlie Botto, Charles Rec, Zack Tilton, Evan Accardi
Assists: Lucey, Stys, Gagnon
Saves: Brody Hines 5, Louis Martiniello 4
Bellingham (4-15): 0 1 1 2 — 4
Pentucket (10-7): 11 5 2 1 — 19