Winchester Lacrosse Storming into Postseason

The boys’ lacrosse team capped off its hot second half of the season Thursday with a hard-fought 7-5 win over visiting North Andover.

After a relatively slow start, the Sachems (12-5) ended the regular season by winning nine of their last 10 games, their only loss coming in a tough 4-3 decision against league-champion Lexington.

“When we were 2-3 and then 3-4,” longtime Winchester coach John Pirani said, “the thing that we talked about with the kids was how important it is in life to comeback from setbacks and be resilient in the face of adversity.”

Pirani said he expects his team to be somewhere between the six and 12 seed in the Division 2 East tournament, which starts next week. The seedings should be posted on the MIAA’s website today.

On Thursday, Winchester and North Andover (10-8) were knotted at 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

Early in the frame, Winchester senior Ryan McGoff went straight at North Andover’s net and put home what would be the game-winning goal. Teammate Jesse Samek, a junior, then added an insurance goal on a strike soon after to make the final 7-5.

As has been the case most of the season, Winchester’s defense clamped down when it mattered most. Goalie Alex Sharp, a Middlesex League all-star, had 12 saves, including three late, and defensemen Danny Donovan and Peter Troiano, also all-stars, prevented long North Andover possessions in their zone.

Winchester trailed 2-1 after the first quarter. However, in the second, Samek and Eddie Dorr scored back-to-back goals to give the Sachems a 3-2 lead at the break.

Dorr, who scored in the first, completed his hat-trick early in the third, off a pass from senior Alex Kohn.

North Andover would tie the game later in the third, at 4-4, before Winchester’s Ryan Nagle and North Andover’s Nick Pino traded goals to make it 5-5.

Pino and Dante Querci had two goals a piece for North Andover.