Billerica ends Marblehead's perfect season in playoff quarterfinals

Jun. 22—MARBLEHEAD — The tears flowed freely. The hugs between teammates were heartfelt; so were the words of encouragement from their coaches.

The end of the most successful season in Marblehead High boys lacrosse history wasn't supposed to happen at this juncture of the Division 2 North state tournament. But without power seedings being used this season — with teams slotted purely by record — the Magicians also probably shouldn't have seen a team as talented as Billerica in their postseason opener, either.

And so it was that the visiting Indians walked out of steamy Piper Field Monday with an 8-5 victory over their previously unbeaten and top seeded hosts.

"Some mistakes we made early on ultimately hurt us," Marblehead coach John Wilkens said, his team finishing its season at 13-1. "Some poor decisions with the ball, throwing it away at times, taking poor angles on the wings ... those add up. And you absolutely can't go down 6-1 to a team like (Billerica).

"But we battled back in that second half, and these guys should be proud of that. We got back into it and it was a game right until the late stages of the fourth quarter."

Senior captain J.T. Monahan was a formidable presence between the Marblehead pipes, stopping a season high 19 saves. His fellow captain, Will Shull, did all he could do offensively to cut into the Indians' lead, scoring three goals and assisting on his team's other two.

But it wasn't enough against the No. 8 seed, whose better level of regular season competition in the Merrimack Valley League, coupled with its depth, faceoff acumen (junior Steven Lucozzi was crazy-good in the circle, capturing 11 of 15 draws) and patience enabled them to prevail.

Most importantly, their own netminder, sophomore Scott Einarson, was also immense with 19 saves of his own.

"Their goalie was the difference the other night when they beat Masconomet (in the opening round of the playoffs) and he was a huge difference maker again today," said Wilkens. "He and their faceoff guy were both difference makers."

The Wesleyan-bound Shull, a starter since his freshman year and regarded in some circles as Marblehead's best-ever player, finished his three-year career (minus the cancelled 2020 season) with 121 goals, 50 assists and 171 total points. He led the club in scoring this spring with 46-20-66 totals. Monahan started in net as a sophomore and a senior and was a stalwart, finishing with 330 saves.

Marblehead had never trailed by as many as two goals the entire season, and certainly had never been shut out in the first quarter. Both happened Monday as Billerica shot out to a 3-0 lead after 12 minutes without using a lot of wasted motion.

They expanded that lead to five before Shull responded for the Magicians on a nice feed from Miles Smith with 5:04 to go until halftime. Billerica tacked on another, courtesy of a Myles Jean snipe, and led 6-1 at intermission.

"Looking at some of their regular season scoring numbers were a little eye popping," Billerica coach Ryan Nickerson said of the Magicians, "but we reminded our guys that we played a lot of tough competition this season, guys with similar scoring ability, and if we played our game defensively we'd be all right.

"That No 8 (Shull) is a phenomenal player. We wanted to have someone on him at all times, same as two years ago (when Billerica beat the Magicians in the postseason). But he still was able to get free a few times and get them back in it."

Giving credit where it's due, Marblehead came out with a renewed sense of purpose in the second half by tightening up defensively and cashing in offensively when they had the chances. Gresh Bosworth, Sam Annese and Remy Poisson led the defensive charge , while Shull got it going at the other end with a high rip midway through the quarter, then fed Matt Thompson man up for the latter's 35th goal of the season, making it 6-3.

When Shull grabbed a ground ball rebound out front and blistered it into the Indians' cage with 8.8 seconds before the third quarter horn, Marblehead's deficit was down to two.

Mindful that his team had a 6-1 lead against Division 1 state powerhouse St. John's Prep two weeks ago before ultimately falling, 8-6, Nickerson admitted that bitter memory crept into his head momentarily.

"It was just that (Monahan) was making so many saves for them," he said. "If we could just get one or two more by him, we thought we'd be OK."

Shortly after the Magicians had killed off a man down situation, they threw the ball away in their own end ("that can't happen there," said Wilkens) and Billerica immediately pounced, with Aidan Gibbons scoring his team's first goal of the first half with 4:40 remaining. When teammate Conor Doherty flung one home with 2:37 to go, giving the Indians an 8-4 lead, it was essentially over.

Junior Josh Robertson concluded the scoring by taking a pass from Shull and converting with 18.6 seconds to go, but it was too little too late for the Red and Black.

Brady Hunt and talented 6-foot-4 sophomore Dom Terrazano each had two goals to pace the winners offensively. Jean had a goal and an assist, with Johnny Caserta also finding the back of the cage for Billerica, which will play at Wakefield in Wednesday's sectional semifinals.

Wilkens was effusive in his praise of the MHS lacrosse class of 2021.

"A great, great group of guys," is how he described them collectively. "I had a lot of fun coaching these guys this season. They always came to work, they were hungry to get better and held each other accountable, which (in turn) made them better. I was happy they won the (Northeastern Conference), and that they displayed super leadership. This group will definitely be missed."