Published June 26, 2019

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield High girls’ lacrosse team hosted its inaugural alumni game on June 12. It was played as a fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis to support teammates, family and friends who are affected by MS. The game itself turned out to be extremely competitive as the Pioneers edged the Lynnfield Alumni 12-11.

“With the exception of two players, I know most of the alumni haven’t picked up a stick in several years,” pointed out Lynnfield head coach Ethan Blanchette. “I was expecting them to be rustier than they were. Overall, the game was clean. There was a lot of nice ball movement on both sides and a bunch of great plays by both teams!”

No team ever had a lead of greater than two goals. The current Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead about five minutes in, on a pair of goals from Tori Morelli, but the alumni answered back with goals from Bailey Fanikos (two goals), Paige MacEachern (four goals and two assists) and Ashley Barrett and at halftime, the alumni held a 6-5 advantage.

THE LHS girls’ lacrosse alumni game raised over $1,350 for the New England Chapter of the MS Society. (Courtesy Photo)

The second half saw the alumni cling to a one or two goal lead for much of it as Fanikos, MacEachern, Liv Smyrnios, Devon MacEachern, and Caroline Buckley all found the back of the net. Paige MacEachern scored with 1:20 left to give the alumni a lead of 11-10 but the current Pioneers team answered right back.

Jen Flynn (two goals and three assists) won the ensuing draw and took it the distance to tie the game with 1:02 remaining. Flynn won the following draw and set up Morelli (four goals and two assists) who converted a free-position shot with 27 seconds remaining to give the high school team a 12-11 lead.

Smyrnios, who had two goals and one assist, won the subsequent draw for the alumni, but a defensive stand allowed the high school team to run out the clock.

Other goals scorers for the current team were Shannon Pierce (three goals), Maddy Murphy (two goals) and Molly Murphy (one goal and one assist).

The game MVP was alumni goalie Lauren White, who made close to a dozen saves in net. Ava O’Brien and Grace Magno split time in net for the high school team and both made several great saves of their own.

The biggest winner was the Greater New England Chapter of the MS Society as the game raised over $1,350.