Sports 06-15-2016

Revere High Lacrosse Accolades

Sullivan named NEC Offensive Player of the Year

By Cary Shuman

Revere High lacrosse coach Steve Magno was asked what his superb junior attackman, Eddie Sullivam does best on the field.

“He scores goals,’ Magno answered unhesitatingly.

You can say that again.

Sullivan just finished a record-breaking junior season for the RHS varsity team. He scored 75 goals and had 27 assists to lead the Northeastern Conference in scoring. He was the unanimous choice for the NEC South Offensive Player of the Year Award. Magno has nominated Sullivan for state All-American honors.

“Scoring 100 points in a single season is a remarkable accomplishment,” said Magno. “To be able to do that against defenses that are focusing on stopping you and double-teaming you is amazing. Our offense this year was explosive.”

When Sullivan was growing up, he was a sensational Pop Warner quarterback who nearly led Revere to the National Championships. He also excelled in baseball and basketball, learning skills and winning games under the watchful eye of his father, Eddie Sullivan, a former Pope John High School star and semi-professional football player.

“I think my father’s proud of me because everything in sports he taught me – football, basketball, baseball – and this is the one sport where he can step back and watch me grow and develop my skills.”

Sullivan, 17, began playing lacrosse in the Revere youth program that was founded by Magno.

“Coach Magno introduced the game of lacrosse to me as a kid,” said Sullivan. “He made me develop a love of lacrosse and coached me to work on all facets of my game – my right hand, my left hand – and it’s really been paying off. He’s so inspirational and keeps everyone focused within the team. He does everything for the team.”

A 5-foot-8-inch attackman playing on the wing, Sullivan is elusive and powerful. “Eddie uses his size and strength to his advantage,” said Magno. “He’s able to dodge on the wing and get his shot off. He can get that first step and use his size to push past the defensemen and fire a mix of low and high shots.”

Sullivan formed a potent attack line this season with two of his classmates, first-team All-Star Daniel Muller (57 points) and second-team all-star Anthony DeStefano (60 points). Other members of a talented junior class were John DiGregorio, Cody Jeglinski, Nicholas Smith, and Wesley Spagnuolo. Senior midfielder Steven Noel, senior defenseman Kevin Chiles, freshman defenseman Eric Bua and freshman goalie Cam Mazza were other first-team All-Stars.

Sullivan, who is the leading candidate for the RHS starting quarterback position (he also plays linebacker), is considering college lacrosse as a second sport besides football. Assumption, Merrimack, Endicott, Bryant, UNH, Plymouth State, and Coastal Carolina top his list of colleges at this point.

“Football is where my heart’s at, but I do like lacrosse a lot,” said Sullivan. “I like the fast pace of lacrosse and it’s a fun sport overall.”

Magno says Sullivan is creating a lot of buzz among college lacrosse programs.

“Eddie is certainly going to be ready for college lacrosse when the time comes,” said Magno. “He has another year to develop and he and his parents will determine what program is the best fit for him and I’m happy and proud to be part of that process with them.”

 The excitement is already building for the 2017 lacrosse season.

“Rarely do you see a junior score more than 100 points,” said Magno. “Eddie’s name is out there and all the teams know who he is now. We want to take our program to a higher level next year and Eddie is one of the key players we’re counting on to get us there.”

Magno named NEC South Coach of the Year

By Cary Shuman

Steve Magno expected his Revere High School boys team to accomplish some good things in the 2016 season. Magno had players on his roster who had competed in both youth-level and varsity lacrosse and believed that solid foundation would help the Patriots reach the next level in the program’s growth.

Magno was right on the mark in his prognostication. The Revere varsity improved its record by ten wins, going from 5-15-1 to 15-6-0 overall, winning the last 10 games of the season and qualifying for the State Tournament. The team outscored its opponents by a 222-147 margin.

“We finally got to see the fruits of the youth program,” said Magno.

And Magno himself enjoyed the fruits of his exceptional coaching and program-building talents, receiving the NEC South Coach of the Year Award.

Magno’s team was 9-1 at home, playing most of its games at the new Harry Della Russo Stadium “The field was excellent. It was great for us to actually have our own facility that we could be proud of. It’s a great showpiece for the city. For the kids, it brought a new level of excitement. We played in all kinds of weather and having the team [locker] rooms helped us a lot at halftime to be able to regroup.”

Though he is one of high school lacrosse’s most recognizable coaches, Magno didn’t start playing the sport until his sophomore year at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.

“Back then, there weren’t many schools that had lacrosse,” said Magno. “It really wasn’t a sport that mom or dad put you in to – it was a sport that you saw, you liked, you picked up – it became a passion for me.”

He played a year of varsity (B) at UMass/Amherst and transferred to Salve Regina, where he helped launch the men’s lacrosse program. “I get to play in the alumni game every year,” said the 40-year-old Magno. “I play a lot of club and tournament lacrosse now and attend coaching clinics. I’m still learning new techniques and schemes that I bring back to teach our team.”

Magno was assisted in the RHS program by coaches Chris Piazza and Austin Powers, who was a member of the first-ever RHS lacrosse team. “Austin is a student of the game and he’s taken over the youth program in the city.”

Magno said his players believed in the team-above-self concept and that unselfish approach translated to success on the field.

“We had some great senior leadership with captains Mike Dellorfano and Steven Noel,” said Magno. “They really helped motivate the younger players and bonded the team together as a really effective machine out there. We had five first-team All-Stars and four second-team All-Stars. The future is bright. But the players have to continue to work hard in the off season and get ready for next year.”

Revere Sports through the Years

10 years ago

June 7, 2006

Revere’s Nicole Healey was honored as the Northeast Regional Vocational School’s Female Athlete of the Year. She was captain of the NE soccer, basketball, and softball teams.

Revere’s Joshua Arsenault completed a fine career in lacrosse for Malden Catholic this past week, leading MC to the state semifinals before losing to Xaverian. Arsenault had never picked up a lax stick until his freshman year at MC, but led the team in scoring this year with 38 goals.

30 years ago

June 11, 1986

The RHS baseball team dropped its opening game in the Eastern Mass state tourney with an 18-5 loss to Lynn English in a game that had been postponed four times because of rain. GBL all-star Ron Bright slugged two homers for the Pats and teammate Emilio Leone clouted a roundtripper.

40 years ago

June 9, 1976

Former RHS star cross country runner Dom Finelli, who is a freshman at Brandeis, set a new NCAA record in the 5000 meters at the Division III national championship meet in Chicago this past week with a time of 14:23 to capture the D-3 national title. This past fall, Finelli won the Eastern States D-3 cross-country championship.

60 years ago

June 14, 1956

Revere’s Leo Zani set a new U.S. distance record for running by covering the 63 mile route from Kittery, Maine, to Revere City Hall. Zani completed the run in nine hours and 40 minutes Zani previously set the record last year when he ran 53 miles from Portsmouth, N.H., to City Hall, but a California runner set a new distance mark of 58 miles shortly thereafter. Zani is a sophomore at Dartmouth College.