BEVERLY — When the Manchester Essex girls lacrosse team stormed out of the gates Tuesday night for three quick goals against host Beverly High, it had the makings of what could’ve been a long night.
Turns out that it was … not for the host Panthers, however, but rather the Hornets.
Beverly went on to score nine straight goals and only allowed one the rest of the way, leading to a decisive 17-4 victory at Forti Field.
Now 11-1 on the season and ranked 13th in the state among Division 1 girls lacrosse teams, the Panthers never stopped scoring once they were able to get untracked offensively.
Playing for the third time in four days, the Division 4 Hornets (now 7-5) just weren’t able to keep pace.
“They’ve got a lot of offensive and defensive power,” said first-year Manchester Essex head coach G.G. Huet of the Panthers.
“It wasn’t our best showing, but no discredit to Beverly; they’re a very talented team. There isn’t any one player you have to worry about; they have talent all over the field. No team is scoring a lot on them; their defense and their goalie (Madeleine Reynolds) are very, very impressive.”
Freshman Wren Lewis, senior Abby Kent, and junior Shields Edgerton all converted in the first quarter to stake the Hornets to a quick three-goal lead. But as Beverly found its offensive stride and won the majority of draw controls, the tables started to turn.
By the time Manchester Essex scored again on Kent’s second tally of the evening, the score was 13-4 for the hosts just four-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter. Much of the second half was played with running time after Beverly went ahead by 10 goals.
“Out-of-league games like this can be a good learning experience,” said Huet, an M-E graduate who was playing attack for York College of Pennsylvania at this time a year ago. “We can take a lot from this game, especially mentally. Learning how to be mentally tough and how to maintain a lead against a good team, and not allowing opponents to go on long runs.
“(Beverly’s Reynolds) is an excellent goalie, much better than these girls are used to facing,” she added. “I watched film and knew that she was good and tried to prepare our players for that, but it’s one thing to hear it and it’s another thing to face in person. So hopefully that’s another lesson we can learn from moving forward.”
Manchester Essex used two goalies on the evening, with sophomore Ema Mustafa and junior Elizabeth Virden each making three saves.