New faces, new look for Pinkerton boys lacrosse team this spring
DERRY — Marty Auger heard a similar refrain from his Pinkerton Academy lacrosse players as they returned to the sideline on Monday. They were good things, namely that the plays and mindsets Auger and his staff implemented during preseason worked as planned on game day.
Auger, a former Astros attackman and an assistant coach under the legendary Brian O'Reilly from 2015-19, got his first win leading Pinkerton in the team's season opener, a 21-0 NHIAA Division I triumph over Salem.
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Auger said he preaches making the extra pass, passing up good scoring chances for great ones, and playing fast.
'We're trying to instill that in these guys and it's like breaking (in) a wild horse,' Auger joked. 'It's tough, but when they do it, it looks awesome.
'A couple times (Monday) we had guys coming off the field smiling, saying, 'Coach, that was wide open.''
The Astros are coming off a 10-8 regular season and a semifinal appearance last spring under former coach Steve Gaudreau, now the head coach at Bedford. They're young: nine underclassmen, 13 juniors and six seniors dot the roster.
Junior Matt Gormady is one of Pinkerton's skill players. On Monday, the attackman logged a game-high six goals alongside three assists.
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Gormady's objective this season is to either reach the 100-point or 100-goal plateau — hopefully both, he said. As a sophomore last year, Gormady recorded 43 points.
'I'm very shifty,' Gormady said. 'I like to dodge my guys. When they press me out, that's what I like a lot because I like to just go and it leads to a bunch of goals.'
Auger said Pinkerton has scoring depth rather than one or two superstar scorers.
Freshman attackman Levi Weaver (four), Gormady's senior older brother Jeff (three), freshman midfielder Tyler Pinardi (two) senior midfielder Ben Quintiliani (two) all had multi-goal games on Monday.
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The Astros have sets and run plays, but Auger said he wants his players to learn on their own where to be and what to do on the field.
Auger mostly works with Pinkerton's offense. Ken Blaszka, who coached Timberlane for the past 10 years, joined the staff this spring and works mostly with the Astros' defense.
Goalies Owen Perkins and Gavin Burwell, Brendan Carney, Caleb Hobden and Blaszka's son, Brady, are some of Pinkerton's notable defenders.
Perkins, a sophomore, and Burwell, a junior, combined for a four-save shutout against the Blue Devils. Both goalies will see playing time early in the season.
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With a 'phenomenal' defensive unit, Auger said he feels like Pinkerton has a shot against some of the better teams in the division.
Matt Gormady agrees with his coach. 'Those other teams better look out for us this year,' the attackman said.
ahall@unionleader.com
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