Published May 20, 2021
NORTH READING — The NRHS boys’ lacrosse team fell to 1-3 with a 14-3 loss to CAL lax powerhouse Ipswich on Tuesday.
The Hornets are continuing to work on gaining experience for a young team that features only two seniors in Griffin Murphy and Sal Schille.
That progress took a leap forward with a 16-0 win over Amesbury on Friday. It was Amesbury’s first varsity game in program history as they kick of their initial lacrosse season.
North Reading was led by junior goalie Andrew Peppe who earned the shutout with six saves.
Junior Devin Tran had three goals to lead the NR attack.
After the Hornets suffered a close, 10-8 loss in their season opener against Pentucket, they traveled to Lynnfield on May 10 and came up short in a 10-5 game against a defensively sound Pioneer squad.
Peppe had 11 saves in this one, keeping the Hornets in it all game.
North Reading got two goals from Ryan Long and tallies from Teddy Suny, Nick Albano and Matt Young.
Albano tied the game 1-1 early in the 1st with a 20-yard bomb top shelf but the Pioneers went on a run and led 4-1 after one.
Both teams got some good chances in the second with Lynnfield capitalizing on four while the Hornets added two. Long’s first came on a lefty rip right after a faceoff win and dish from Tran. Suny scored from the right side on a well-executed man-up to make it 6-3 but the Pioneers again finished the quarter strong to make it 8-3 at the half.
The Pioneers locked down on defense while running down the clock with long burns on offense, adding two more to make it 10-3 although it could have been more as Peppe made multiple clutch stops.
North Reading showed plenty of promising signs during a final quarter in which they could have just mailed it in. Instead, Schille and Long had a good passing possession and Young scored quickly to make it 10-4.
Peppe made one of his best saves of the day right before Long battled through contact and finished another strong lefty shot but the Hornets couldn’t find any offense after that.
North Reading will host Triton on Friday and Newburyport on Monday with both games starting at 4 p.m.