PEABODY — Jaden Kritikos said he tried to treat Thursday night’s annual battle with Bishop Fenwick the same way he would any other game.
In reality, however, he and the nearly two dozen seniors on the Peabody High boys lacrosse team knew it wasn’t. Not after losing the coveted Danish Cup to the Crusaders for the first time a year ago.
Kritikos made sure that wouldn’t happen again. The Tanners’ leading scorer added to his season totals by pumping home four goals and adding an assist as his squad held off Fenwick, 8-7, before a festive crowd at Coley Lee Field.
“I don’t think any of us wanted that sick feeling in our stomachs again that we had after last year,” said the 18-year-old Kritikos, who now has 23 goals and 34 total points on the season. “Losing on our home field senior year was something no one wanted.
“When that final horn went off and we all charged onto the field to celebrate, it was just relief, honestly,” he added. “There’s no better feeling.”
The 14th annual Danish Cup, played in honor of Peabody High lacrosse program founder Bob Danish (watching via livestream from his home in Florida), had plenty of drama throughout. The two teams traded the lead back and forth through the first 19 minutes before Peabody (now 6-4 overall) scored five straight to take what seemed to be a comfortable 8-4 lead early in the third quarter.
But in what’s been both a difficult and frustrating season for Bishop Fenwick, they got up off the mat and continued to right until the final whistle went off. The Crusaders scored three straight goals to make it 8-7 after the third quarter and had several opportunities to tie it, but Peabody captain Aidan Haight (7 saves) made two big stops to keep his team in the lead.
The Tanners than ran out the clock for essentially the final two-and-a-half minutes; Fenwick got the ball back nine seconds left and tried a desperation field-length shot on goal, but to no avail.
“From the first faceoff to the last whistle, it was our best and most complete game of the season,” said Fenwick head coach Dave McKenzie after his fell dropped to 1-11. “This game brings out the best in both teams, and each of us were ready to go from the get-go.
“Coming back the way we did shows that these guys won’t quit,” McKenzie continued. “It takes tenacity and guts to take those early punches and refuse to give up, like our guys did. I’m disappointed with the loss, but super proud of our guys.”
Fenwick goaltender Liam Kelsch wound up with 11 saves and earned game MVP honors for his team.
Kritikos was the easy choice for Peabody’s MVP. With the contest knotted up at 4-4 in the second quarter, he scored three straight tallies on various cuts and moves to the net to give the Tanners a lead they’d never relinquish.
“I trusted my teammates and they trusted me,” said Kritikos. “(Fenwick) has some really good defensive mids, but I was able to get one step ahead of them a few times.”
“Jaden came up with some really clutch goals. He’s done that all season for us,” added Peabody High head coach Jason Marshall. “But we got a lot of great performances from up and down the roster, which you need in a game like this. Aidan didn’t need to make as many saves as he’s normally asked to, but the ones he had were fantastic. (Captain) Tyson Higgins did a great job defensively on his man; Derek Collins (a senior middie) was great; Mason Clickstein (another senior mid) was too; Sean Britton (another senior) had a big assist on one of Jaden’s goals … on and on it goes as far as guys stepping up big for us.”
Brothers Joe and Matt Vaz, Jacob Houlden and Collins also scored for Peabody, with Clickstein picking up two assists and Stephen Brown, Matt Vaz and Britton picking up one each.
Aidan Byrne, a senior captain, powered the Crusaders offensively with three goals and an assist. John Romans (“when plays with confidence, he’s a game changer,” said McKenzie) and captain Nate Ricciuti each added a pair for Fenwick, with C.J. Masone and Jase Mansi adding solo helpers.
“This is the kind of game that could help spark us the rest of the season,” said Marshall, his team now having won four of its last five contests.