If the first few weeks of the season are any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be a trial by fire type of spring for the Gloucester boys lacrosse team.
The Fishermen are in a rebuilding period, and they’re certainly going to take their share of bumps and bruises along the way.
Having graduated a dozen seniors from last year’s group, head coach Geoff Kennedy’s squad is young, with a number of new faces filling big roles at the varsity level — including an entirely new core at attack. They’ve had their moments in the early goings — most notably a three-goal win over Somerville to begin the year — but have hit a bit of a rough patch since then as they continue to work towards an identity.
Wednesday afternoon, Gloucester was unable to snap the skid, suffering its fourth straight loss against unbeaten Winthrop, 11-2, at home.
But despite the result on the scoreboard, Kennedy is remaining positive and feels his fresh crop of players are making significant strides as they dive deeper into the bulk of their schedule.
“Lately we’ve been getting down (due to) a lot of turnovers, especially with this young bunch,” admitted Kennedy. “So it was nice to see a couple of them step up and play through the adversity today. We had 15 failed clears and six turnovers against Swampscott (a 12-2 loss on Monday), so cutting those numbers basically down to a quarter of that really helped today.
“Obviously Winthrop is tough, undefeated, so it was just about battling back, working hard and taking care of the little things today,” added the coach.
As hard as they worked throughout the contest, Gloucester simply couldn’t keep pace with the high-flying Vikings. It was an opponent that had already topped Malden Catholic, Northeast Tech, Salem, Swampscott, Beverly and Essex Tech to start the year, and they were at it again offensively on a windy and frigid day at Newell Stadium.
Midway through the second quarter, however, Gloucester was still well within striking distance, trailing by just two goals at 3-1. Sophomore Sam Sanfilippo had pumped in his team’s first marker, and after a timeout, the Fishermen were feeling good about where they were at.
But from a possession standpoint, Winthrop was still dominating the game, and it was only a matter of time before it opened the flood gates. The Vikings potted two goals in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the half, seizing a 5-1 lead at the break while building momentum heading into a decisive third stanza.
The visitors struck again less than a minute into the ensuing frame, and ultimately finished things off by netting five of the game’s last six goals to run away for good. Gloucester’s defense held its own and the midfielders were playing both sides of the ball with great effort, but Winthrop simply wore them down as the contest rolled on.
Seth Sacco led the charge in the win with five goals and two assists while CJ Cifuni had a hat trick and three assists and Colin Cifuni scored twice. The Vikings out-shot the hosts 30-12.
“A lot of guys are still learning the system, it’s just about understanding how to take space and move and we’re learning each other’s strengths,” said Kennedy. “A lot of (last year’s) seniors played a lot for us, so it’s tough losing that star power and finding chemistry, knowing where guys like to go, who’s more of a feeder or a finisher, and just understanding our roles to kind of come together as a complete team.”
While they only found the back of the net once down the stretch, the Fishermen’s final goal was a thing of beauty — and hopefully a sign of more pretty finishes to come. Goalie Jaeden Chipperini (12 saves) made a great clear to Will Linn, who fed a cutting Kellen Moran for the transition score.
Both Chipperini and Moran, one of the few seniors on the team and a captain alongside Chipperini this year, have had strong starts to the season overall.
“Jaeden’s a rock,” said Kennedy. “That’s why the boys voted him as a captain as a junior which is pretty impressive. I haven’t seen that for a while in my stint with the program, so he’s been great for us saving the ball. He’s been progressing well and he’s been pushing the boys, so it’s good to see those leadership qualities translate from on the field to off the field.
“And Kellen’s been our rock on offense, same with Sammy Sans (Sanfilippo),” the coach continued. “We ask a lot from our middies because we have all new starters down at attack, so they’re our party starters and have done great.”
Kennedy also highlighted the play of Joe Gucciardi, a first-year player who has held it down admirably on defense. Both Connor Mahoney and Jackson Harnish (who was unable to suit up on Wednesday), have done a terrific job at the faceoff X as well.
It’s a long season, and it appears Gloucester has the drive and determination to turn things around and start stacking up some more wins. Its next opportunity to do so will come on Friday at rival Salem, which fell to Winthrop by a 15-3 score early last week.
“The future looks bright,” added Kennedy. “We’ll go through our growing pains and it’ll teach us, but we’re definitely not giving up on this year. I like the direction we’re headed.”
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.