TAYLOR VALITON – OFFENSIVE MVP
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield High girls’ lacrosse team had its awards banquet on June 11 at Lynnfield Middle School. Christina Serra, who just completed her third year at the helm, gave out several awards that evening.
The Coaches Award went to senior midfielder-defenseman, Keely Briggs. Briggs, who just joined the team this season, was also the Lynnfield Scholar Athletic Award winner for the team with a grade-point average of 4.65. She will be attending Providence College this fall.
The Offensive Player of the Year Award went to Taylor Valiton. Valiton, a captain, made the Cape Ann League First-Team All-Stars for the second year in a row this spring. It was her third postseason award as she made the CAL Second-Team All-Stars as a freshman. The junior attacker-midfielder scored a team-high 97 goals to go with 11 assists for 108 points.
Clara Caulfield took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The junior defenseman also received the Caused Turnover Award.
CLARA CAULFIELD – DEFENSIVE MVP
Hayden Valiton won the Rookie of the Year Award. The midfielder and attacker, was second on the team in scoring with 81 goals to go with 26 assists as she was named to the CAL Second-Team All-Stars.
The Unsung Heroine Award went to freshman midfielder Jordan Calichman while fellow ninth-grader, Maeve Wertz (defenseman) got the Ground Ball Leader Award.
Freshman attacker, Ava Damiani, received the Assists Leader Award.
After defeating North Reading 16-12 in the first round of the MIAA Division 4 State Tournament, the Pioneers lost to host Ipswich, 17-10, in the Round of 16 on June 5.
Lynnfield finished 5-8 in the Cape Ann League as they came in fourth place in the CAL Baker Division. Overall, they went 10-12.
“This year was exactly what I wanted it to be,” said Serra. “We won the first playoff game in my three years here and continued to improve as the season went along.”
The team will lose six seniors to graduation: Briggs, captain Casey Flynn (goalie), captain Maddie Mastrangelo (attacker), Sophia Fiorentino (defenseman), Quinn Lavey (defenseman) and Sophie Bergeron (attacker).
“It was great to see each player improve, especially Casey in goal,” said Serra, about the senior class. “It was an all-around good group and I will miss them all.”
Serra is expecting 12 players to return next year with the biggest question heading into 2025 being who is going to replace Flynn in net.
“I am very excited for next year,” said Serra. “They are going to work together during the off-season.”
At the banquet, they also selected their captains for next spring. Taylor Valiton will be a second-year captain while the other one will be Caulfield.
