Laxmen pick up much-needed win

Head coach Andrew Lavalle steps down

Published May 1, 2019

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — Wakefield Memorial High School boys’ lacrosse head coach Andrew Lavalle has stepped down.

Lavalle informed the school and the team of his decision last week after he accepted a job that would interfere with his coaching responsibilities.

“A job opportunity came up that he couldn’t turn down,” said Tim Johnson, the former JV head coach who will now take over the varsity team.

Lavalle came to Wakefield as an assistant to Geno Busa in 2012 and became the head coach in 2015 when Busa stepped down.

Losing a coach mid-season, especially one as well-liked and successful as Lavalle, is obviously a difficult situation for players and coaches.

Luckily for Wakefield, they have a steady presence in Johnson who has coached the JV team for 11 years and will immediately get to work on guiding the Warriors through a difficult time.

“Unfortunately the timing, it is what it is. It’s tough, you never want to see something like that happen but kudos to Andrew for everything he’s done for the program over the years,” said Johnson. “I’ve seen him and Geno (Busa) come in and really transform Wakefield into a top caliber team.”

There is nothing common about a sudden coaching departure but Johnson’s control of the program is the most natural transition the Warriors could have hoped for. A big reason for that is his familiarity with the current team.

“Some of them went straight to varsity and I didn’t get a chance to coach them but a lot them I have and it’s great to see where they came from to what they’ve become,” said Johnson.

Along with former Wakefield lacrosse stars Joe Keegan and Vin Ferretti as the varsity assistants and Mike Delano taking over as the new JV head coach, the program is in good hands.

With the frustration of the change compounded by a three-game losing streak, coach Johnson knew how important it was to reset the focus and somehow get the Warriors back to playing Wakefield lacrosse.

“We’ve worked hard since our last game (Burlington on Friday), looking at some new things and trying to get some new energy,” said Johnson. “We needed a good week of energy and high-tempo practices and we got that from them.”

Whatever their energy level was in practice, they’re going to want to replicate it if yesterday’s win against Watertown was any indication.

The Warriors put together their most complete game of the season and beat the Raiders 13-1.

There was a clear sense of unity and plenty of that energy that the Warrior coaching staff was looking for.

The defense was strong throughout. Whether it was knocking down long passes, rotations, communication or winning one-on-one battles, the defense, including captain Cam Souza, Mike and Matt Petitto, Gabe Brissette, Aidan Cusack and Jonathan Guida.

“The defense had high intensity today,” said Johnson. “They crashed the ball, were physical and maintained their composure.”

In lacrosse, the defense improves as long as the offense can give them some time to recover. The Warrior attack weren’t able to accomplish that during their last three games against Burlington, Lexington and Acton-Boxborough. They did against Watertown.

“We’ve been letting up a lot of goals and working too hard on defense the last few games and we really wanted to flip that around and get a better look on offense and today was a great day for that,” said Johnson.

The Warrior attack, led by four goals and three assists from captain Anthony Forziati along with four goals and four assists from Max DiMella, picked up steam as the game went along and although they have room to improve with missed shots and turnovers, the Warriors were clicking for most of the day.

Forziati set the tone with a behind-the-back goal two minutes in to get the bench going early.

After Guida forced a turnover on the defensive side, Mike Lucey, with a defensive stick in his cage, ripped a low lefty shot that rose to the top shelf for a swift 2-0 lead.

The offense slowed down after that as the first quarter ended 2-0.

Wakefield got four more unanswered goals in the second frame to go into the break with a 6-0 lead.

Nice ball movement resulted in the third goal as goalie Dan Guarino sent one up to captain Thomas Harrington who found Forziati. One more quick dish to Max DiMella resulted in the sophomore’s first goal of the game.

As the defense continued to disrupt the Watertown attack, Wakefield’s fourth was another clinic of great passing. After a strong carry from Guida, Forziati drew the attention of the goalie and set up DiMella again on the weak side. Unselfishness led DiMella to send it across the crease to an even more open Mike Burns who scored his first of three goals on the day.

Late in the second, Lucey dodged behind the net and dished to a cutting Forziati in front who got it out of his strings so fast it looked like he batted it in.

Wakefield got four more in a nearly identical third and closed the game strong.

It’s tough to single out one player after such a strong game as a unit, but Harrington played a terrific game in the midfield, battling for possession, flying by defenders on clears and setting up the offense in great spots.

Harrington played JV during his freshman and sophomore seasons before, in the words of Johnson “erupting as a D middie” for varsity last season.

Now, “Harry” and the boys have a decision to make with their “new/old” coach: call it a season for which they wouldn’t get much blame, or come together to find a new lease on 2019.