THE NEW CAPTAINS for next season were announced at the LHS boys’ lacrosse team’s banquet. Pictured with incoming captains Johnny Powers, Brendan Driscoll and Sam Curley are outgoing captains Mike Murphy, Kelan Cardinal, Ben Pimentel and Owen Considine. (Courtesy Photo)
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High boys’ lacrosse coach Pat Lamusta gave out five awards at the team’s end-of-season banquet on June 17 at Prince Restaurant in Saugus on June 17.
The Joseph Papagni Spirit Award for competitiveness went to senior midfielder Mike Murphy. Murphy, a co-captain, made the Cape Ann League All-Star First Team for the second year in a row. This year, he had 79 points with 45 goals and 34 assists. He also had 15 takeaways.
The Coaches Award went to senior attacker Owen Doherty.
“He was often overlooked but he had a lot of key goals for us this season,” said Lamusta, “As coaches, we recognized what he did for us.”
The Defensive Player of the Year Award went to senior goalie Ben Pimentel. The four-year varsity net-minder, made the CAL Second-Team All-Stars for the second year in a row. He had a goals-against average of 12.1 and a save percentage of 52. Overall this spring, he made 208 stops as he went 13-7 in net..
Owen Considine, another senior co-captain, received the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Just like he did for the Pioneer hockey team this winter, he led the team in points.
The team MVP Award went to Kelan Cardinal. Cardinal, another senior co-captain, was a CAL First-Team All-Star this spring. It was his third All-Star appearance in a row as he made the second team as a sophomore and first team as a junior.
The midfielder, who was also the goalie for the Pioneers soccer team, had 45 goals and 42 assists for 87 points this year. He also had 73 ground balls and 32 takeaways.
The Pioneers had another good season this year as they were edged by host Littleton, 13-12, in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 16. They finished with a final overall record of 13-7.
Lynnfield went 9-4 in the Cape Ann League and they tied Ipswich for second place in the CAL Baker Division behind Manchester-Essex.
“We were not sure what we had coming into this year with all of the seniors we lost,” admitted Lamusta, who just finished his fifth-year at the helm. “We had a tough schedule and I was proud and impressed with how they rose to the occasion this year.”
Along with Cardinal, Considine, Murphy, Doherty and Pimentel, they will lose three other seniors to graduation, Paul Daley (attacker), Tyler Maddocks (face-off specialist) and Gabe Schumacher (defenseman).
“What a great group,” stated Lamusta, about the senior class. “They had 57 regular-season wins, six playoff wins and we won the Baker Division last year. They had an incredible impact on our program and it will be a little tricky without them next year.”
The good news for the team is that they are slated to return 12 veterans including next year’s tri-captains Brendan Driscoll (junior- defenseman), John Powers (sophomore- attack) and Sam Curly (junior-attacker and midfielder).
The captains were voted on by the players.
Driscoll was a CAL Second-Team All-Star this season.
“We have some good players coming back,” said Lamusta.