KELAN CARDINAL racked up 5 goals and 5 assists in Lynnfield’s impressive 17-2 win over Hamilton-Wenham in the first round of the Div. 4 state tournament. The No. 7 Pioneers will host another CAL foe on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. when No. 10 Manchester-Essex comes to town for a Round of 16 game. The winner will play the winner of No. 2 Sandwich vs. No. 15 Advanced Math and Science in the quarterfinals. (File Photo)

 

Update post publication:

Lynnfield defeats Manchester-Essex 10-6 (June 7)

Lynnfield falls to Sandwich 15-4 in the Elite 8 (June 9)

Click here for more game details.

 

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — In their regular-season meeting on May 8, the Lynnfield High boys lacrosse team won at Hamilton-Wenham, 9-4.

The two teams met again on Monday evening in the first round of the Division 4 state tournament at Lynnfield High on a rainy, cool night.

In this one, the Pioneers dominated, winning 17-2 to advance to the Round of 16.

With the victory, the 7th-seeded Pioneers improved to 11-8. The 26th-seeded Generals, meanwhile, ended the year at 4-15.

“We started off slow in the first quarter but were able to get some great transition plays in the second quarter to get us going thanks to our defense,” said Lynnfield head coach Pat Lamusta.

Lynnfield was only up 3-2 heading into the second quarter. In that second, they took control outscoring the Generals 6-0 to go to the half leading by seven.

Lynnfield was then able to shut out the guests the entire second half while netting eight goals as Lamusta was able to play his bench for much of the second half.

Kelan Cardinal led the way with 10 points as the sophomore had five goals and five assists.

“He had a massive game,” stated Lamusta.

Jack Calichman also had a big nigh with three goals and five assists. Will Norton scored four times while Owen Considine recorded a hat trick.

Mike Murphy and Drew Damiani both had one goal and one assist.

Steve Dreher led the team in ground balls with four while Bryce Kay and Mark Sweeney combined to go 16 for 21 in face-offs.

Lynnfield goalie, Ben Pimentel, improved to 11-8 in net as he made 11 saves.

The next game for the Pioneers will be against No. 10 Manchester-Essex (15-4) at home in the Round of 16 on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

In their lone meeting of the regular season, the Hornets won a nip-and-tuck, 10-9, decision back on May 5.

“They have a great team with a lot of players who pose match-up problems,” said Lamusta.