By Lorenzo Recupero
In any competition–especially competitive sports–there’s a saying oft heard around the defeated: ‘you can’t win em’ all’. Although that rings true, experience will teach ‘you can’t lose em all’ either.
The up-and-coming Everett High School Lacrosse team learned that sweet lesson on May 3rd as they defeated Salem, 14-12, to earn the program’s first-ever varsity victory.
The triumph, also the first win for rookie head coach Anthony Genualdo, has been three years in the making.
“We kept telling ourselves we just have to get over this hump. We were always just right there,” said Genualdo.
The Lacrosse program at Everett High School is still in its infancy, with only two years in competitive play after one year as a club team, which essentially is a team comprised of players from all grades competing in exhibition games separate from any official league.
The team now competes in the Northeastern conference as does every other Everett High sports team.
“We’ve been competing hard, we’re fighting in every game, battling state tourney type teams until the end of each game,” said Genualdo as he ran down a handful of matches the team lost by a single goal, including a recent one goal loss to first-place (in NEC) Revere High School.
The monumental win was spearheaded by junior Jason Suppa and senior Anthony Norcia. The duo combined for 6 first period goals to boost the Crimson Tide to a 6-1 lead early.
In the fourth period Salem had regained the lead before Suppa, one of the team’s most experienced players, found the back of the net twice in speedy fashion to give Everett a 12-11 lead.
Tied, 12-12, with 2:13 to play in the game, Norcia provided the daggers, scoring the game’s final two goals with just seconds to play. Senior goalie Tyler Lord held on in net for the save and the program’s first win.
“It was something I’ve never seen. The smiles on their faces, I’d never seen them so happy. It was special to see them finally get a win after a few years,” said Genualdo.
In the crowd of happy faces was senior captain Aimn Salih, the team’s most vocal leader and representative since the program started three years ago. He had a message for his coaches and teammates following the win, one coach Genualdo remembers fondly.
“It was a big relief for him. At the end of the game he said ‘we did this! We finally did it. I knew we could do it if we believed we could accomplish it’,” Genualdo recalled.