BEVERLY — Technically, it was Senior Day for the Beverly High boys lacrosse team Monday.
It should’ve more accurately been called Sullivan Day.
Aidan Sullivan, a 12th grade midfielder, exploded for the Panthers by scoring twice and assisting on eight others as his team knocked off visiting Peabody, 12-1, on the turf at Frank Forti Field.
“Aidan’s got the best vision on the team and is always looking to pass first,” Panther head coach Matt Riordan. “We knew he was due for a big day.”
Helping the Orange-and-Black to their 10th win in their last 11 games, Sullivan had some added motivation.
“Having my whole family here was important,” said the 17-year-old, who has 32 assists this spring, which is up among the area leaders in that category. “My sister Isabella just got home from her freshman year at Bryant, and my parents (Keith and Angela) and younger sister (7th grader Michalah) were here, too. That gave me some motivation to play well in front of them.”
No one on the North Shore had more than six assists in one game this season before Sullivan’s monster performance. The 10 points were second only to the 11 that Ipswich’s Will Harrington produced in a win over Hamilton-Wenham last month.
The Wentworth-bound Sullivan, who will study construction engineering and plans on trying out as a walk-on for the Leopards’ lacrosse team, scored the game’s first two goals, then went about finding his teammates in open passing lanes or rolling off a dodge for a clean look at the Peabody cage.
Talan Rafter and Connor Wallace, both juniors, also had two goals apiece in the win, with sophomore Logan Bowen adding a goal and an assist. Senior John Maloblocki added one goal and one assist, while long poles Bradley Griffin (a senior) and Coby Malionek (a sophomore) also scoring. Sophomore Chris McKie and junior Jonny Mezza rounded out the scoring.
“We’ve lost some key pieces this season, but other keys keep stepping up,” said Riordan, team now 10-6. “Logan’s done a great job, Ridley (Acheson, a sophomore middie) has stepped right in, and Talan moved from middie to attack. All our guys defensively too … Coby, Bobby (Massa), Brendan (McCarron), Bradley … those guys stepped up as a unit and denied Peabody.
“We didn’t get too low starting out 0-5, and we didn’t get too high when we started winning some games,” added Riordan. “We had a conversation as a team about who we wanted to be not only has lacrosse players, but as young men, and about being resilient. I’m proud of the young men in our huddle who never quit on each other or the coaches, because we never quit on them.”
Peabody (now 5-12) appeared to be still feeling the affects of a loss last Friday night in the Danish Cup. That, and the fact they were missing three starters (Antonio Anzalone, Matt Bettencourt and Mikey Ryan) didn’t help the Tanners, either.
“We got worn down. The guys we had today were logging a ton of minutes, and it’s tough to sustain that,” head coach Jason Marshall said. His team trailed by a goal after one quarter and by four at the break before the home team really began piling up the goals.
“The momentum that a Senior Day brings was certainly with them, and they had the energy that we didn’t,” he added. “And we tried to use that loss (last Friday) as motivation, but it’s tough to just flick that switch back on.”
Junior goaltender Aiden Haight, as he has been for most of the season, was busy in net for Peabody with 21 saves.
Derek Collins, a junior middie, prevented his team from being shut out with a goal in the final minute of the third quarter. It came off of an assist from senior captain Johnny Lucas, who had a game-high 11 ground balls.
Seniors Colby Vaccaro and Matteo Lucrezia each played one half for Beverly in net, stopping four saves apiece.
“We like to say we have two No. 1 goalies,” said Riordan. “I was glad we could get them both in and give them equal playing time.”
Peabody will play its final game of the season Wednesday at Gloucester (4:30 p.m.), while Beverly plays at Winthrop Thursday (5 p.m.) prior to the start of the Division 2 state playoffs.