We’re still wading into the spring season, with a third-straight day with fewer than 100 games on the slate. That won’t be the case starting next week as teams ramp up — although Mother Nature may have some significant input on the schedule next week.
Saturday’s light load still featured some heavyweight bouts, including No. 1 vs. No. 4 in boys’ volleyball, plus No. 3 vs. the defending Division 2 champion, and correspondent AJ Traub was there for both.
In boys’ lacrosse, correspondent Cameron Pellegrino witnessed St. John’s Prep make a statement in its season opener by toasting No. 3 Acton-Boxborough, 13-1.
And correspondent Siera Qosaj brings the story of Cambridge sophomore Natalya Cafasso, a 16-year-old fencer ranked No. 7 in the world in junior women’s épée.
Check out our main scoreboard here, our dive into our individual sport scoreboards: Baseball | Softball | Boys’ lacrosse | Girls’ lacrosse | Boys’ volleyball | Boys’ tennis | Girls’ tennis
1. Milestone
Beverly first-year boys’ lacrosse coach Anthony Nardella picked up his first win, 6-5, over Woburn thanks to Chris McKie’s winning goal in overtime.
2. Best finishes
In addition to McKie’s OT winner for Beverly boys’ lacrosse, the Austin Prep girls’ lax team got an OT win off the stick of Gabbie McLaughlin, who netted her fourth goal of the day to beat Pomfret, 11-10.
3. Five stars
Erin Alves, Medford — The sophomore erupted for eight goals, and the Mustangs needed every one of them in a 15-14 win over Newton South.
Ryan McCarthy and Will Crawford, St. John’s Prep — In a 13-1 season-opening win over No. 3 Acton-Boxborough, McCarthy, a junior powered the offense with six goals, while Crawford, a senior, won 15 of 16 faceoffs.
Jane Melia, Hingham — In her first varsit start, the senior tossed a complete game and contributed two hits to beat Notre Dame (Hingham), 6-2,
Max Yurtuc, Westfield — The junior dished 40 assists but didn’t stop there in a 3-1 win over No. 8 Newton North, adding 5 kills, 5 digs, and 4 blocks.
4. Commitment central
Tabor Academy senior Aiden Smith, who played his first two seasons at Dartmouth, has committed to play men’s basketball at Assumption. Smith, a 6-foot guard, reached 1,000 points this past season for the Seawolves.
5. College corner
▪ Assumption junior forward Jonathan Surrette, a Phillips Andover graduate who started his high school career at Woburn, is the winner of the Joe Concannon Award, given annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England at the Division 2/3 level.
Surrette is the 25th recipient of the award, named for the longtime Globe writer who died in 2000. Surrette led Assumption to Northeast-10 regular season and tournament titles, scoring 34 goals with 31 assists in 33 games. An All-NE-10 first team selection and league Player of the Year, he was also a finalist for the Sid Watson National Player of the Year award.
Babson junior forward Jimmy Fallon, a Milton graduate, was a finalist after posting 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists) for the Beavers. Other finalists include University of New England junior forward Dominic Murphy (St. Mark’s/Worcester) and Fitchburg State freshman forward Devin Niles (Frontier/Hatfield).
▪ UMass Lowell junior guard Darrel Yepdo, a Brooks graduate from Dracut, has entered the transfer portal after averaging 10.3 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds and shooting 36 percent from deep in one season for the River Hawks. He played three years at Saint Michael’s.
6. Lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Erin Alves, Medford, 8
Ryan McCarthy, St. John’s Prep, 6
Becky Casey, Medford, 5
Nicole Daley, North Andover, 5
Lexi Davos, Norwell, 5
Sophia Fina, North Andover, 5
Gabby McLaughlin, Austin Prep, 4
Charlotte Wren, Acton-Boxborough, 4
Hanane Aboutoui, Methuen, 3
Maren Boyle, Phillips Andover, 3
Millie Brady, Acton-Boxborough, 3
Bo Minogue, St. John’s Prep, 3
Emma Morrison, Phillips Andover, 3
Saves
Ella Phillips, Brooks, 12
Than Hunt, Sandwich, 11
Meghan Terry, Methuen, 9
Maddie Greenwood, Phillips Andover, 8
Max Putney, St. John’s Prep, 8
Graham Ferretti, Beverly, 7
Aisling Berry, Acton-Boxborough, 6
Elsie Horlbeck, Norwell, 5
7. Boys’ volleyball leaderboard
Kills
Mateo Paquette, Greater New Bedford, 14
Amir Tomer, Brookline, 11
Jiahlex Stringer, Greater New Bedford, 10
Bogdan Kuzin, Westfield, 9
Jake Satkowski, Westfield, 9
Brad Francois, Latin Academy, 7
Liam Raybould, Brookline, 7
Assists
Max Yurtuc, Westfield, 40
Luke Vivaldi, Needham, 25
Chace Garcia, Greater New Bedford, 23
Tri Duong, Latin Academy, 22
Alec Smagula, Brookline, 21
Blocks
Jiahlex Stringer, Greater New Bedford, 5
Brad Francois, Latin Academy, 4
Max Yurtuc, Westfield, 4
Jake Satkowski, Westfield, 3
Bogdan Kuzin, Westfield, 2.5
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.