RallyNorth.net

Fri, Apr 25, 2008 04:00 PM @ Peabody

Team	Final
Beverly	3
Peabody	9

Peabody halts Beverly's 103-game streak

Saturday, April, 26 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

Streaks are meant to be broken sooner or later, and it finally ended for Beverly High's lacrosse team yesterday at Donahue Field.

After winning 103 straight Northeastern Conference lacrosse games dating back to 1997, Beverly's remarkable streak was abruptly finished by Peabody, 9-3.

The newest member of the NEC took charge early and never trailed. Attackman Billy Daly led the offense with a hat trick and assist while Mike Martin had a pair of goals and set up two others, and Rich Grillo added two goals. Senior goalie Justin Famigletti took care of business at the other end with 14 saves.

The win was most satisfying for Tanner coach Kevin Houlden, who played for Peabody and recalled being on the wrong end in the big rivalry with the Panthers.

"Beverly has always been our biggest rival and every year it's a battle," said Houlden, who is in his 13th year at the helm. "I always have the biggest butterflies before a Beverly game.

"They beat us nine of 10 years when it was non-league and we only faced them once. Now it is good to see them twice. In the past we didn't get another chance at them and that ate away at us. Right now (the Panthers) are having growing pains. We had them, too, but we're coming out of it."

For first year Beverly coach John Pynchon, a former St. John's Prep player, getting his 5-5 (overall record) team to execute better is his first concern, not a winning streak that past teams compiled. Countless times the Panthers went on the attack only to be one pass away from a good scoring chance.

"All streaks end," said Pynchon. "That's what happens. We have a lot of seniors, but not a lot of experience, and as a coach it is frustrating when they don't execute; frustrating to lose a game because of poor execution. Poor practices lead to poor games, so we have a lot of work to do. Those things concern me a lot more than any streak."

Martin and Grillo got Peabody off to a quick start, scoring in the first two minutes of play before Beverly's Mike Boches cut the lead in half at the four minute mark.

Peabody tacked on two more goals when Daly capitalized on a man-up situation, and then Martin pounced on a loose ball in front of sophomore goalie Kevin Ranta and put it in the net for a 4-1 lead before Beverly answered on Ryan Nolan's goal in the final second of the quarter.

"It's a great rivalry and we came to play today," said Famigletti. "We know what it feels like to lose to Beverly. It sure feels great to beat them."

The Tanners put the game away with four unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead at the end of three quarters on goals by Daly, Grillo, Mike Pennachio, and Mark Jesi. They were ferocious on man-up situations, scoring four times on nine Panther penalties and if not for solid goaltending by Ranta (10 saves) the score could have been higher.

Houlden gave game balls to Grillo, Luke Moran, and Famigletti, who made some key stops in the fourth quarter when Beverly kept the pressure on in the Tanner end. Famigletti denied Nolan and Greg Pierce on tough chances before sophomore Jack Liacos beat him after taking a nice pass from Joey Reinold.

"This was a huge win for us. It feels real good," said Moran, who was outstanding at defensive midfield along with Grillo and Nick Hiou. "We didn't pay any attention to the streak; we take it one step at a time. Our goal is to win the NEC and go deep in the tournament. Today, I think our speed made the biggest difference.

"I know No. 4, Pierce from football (Panther tailback), and how fast he is. He can move from side to side, but we stayed with him and tried to push him to the right into double coverage. In order to win this game we had to step up to stop their transition game and win the ground balls."

But Houlden knows the Panthers will be ready when they get another shot at his Tanners (6-2) in the rematch at Hurd Stadium on May 21.