Lacrosse Girls Goal Spree Grounds St. Mary's

Big Blue charged out to an early lead against St. Mary's of Lynn and never looked back winning 18-7 on Tuesday.

Kita Wheeler whisked in the first goal a minute and seven seconds into the 10 am game.

She followed that scoring with two more in short order, tallying three goals within the first six minutes of play.

Coach Paula Donnelly said the early cushion was a welcome change from the familiar task of playing catch-up lacrosse.

With Tuesday's win the team moved to 3-3 on the season. They face a tough opponent Wednesday morning at 10 when the Peabody Tanners visit Phillip's Park.

Coach Donnelly said her players need to do a better job on draws but played team defense on Tuesday.

"Instead of a bunch of one-on-one match-ups, they were able to slide to double to help," she said.

Team defense forced ground balls, many of which resulted in turnovers and offensive drives by the Blue.

This is the first year that the coach has had players who came through the local youth program, playing as eighth graders. She has three players with this experience.

The experience helps and will continue to help in the coming years as more girls emerge from the younger ranks, she said.

For now she is emphaszing basic passing, moving the ball stick-to-stick-to-stick, she said.

This year's team enjoys senior leadership from four captains: Samantha Coogan, Jesse DePaolo, Katie Zarinsky and Taylor Eaton.

The girls said it was hard going on the field with the unseasonably warm temperatures and bright sun.

The air is expected to be much cooler, in the 50s, on Wednesday, for the game against the Tanners.