Trailing 4-2 at halftime in a nonleague matchup at Wellesley, the Beverly High boys’ lacrosse team was facing its first potential loss of the season.

But powered by a six-goal third quarter, the Panthers roared back for a 9-7 victory on Tuesday afternoon, their 17th win of the year.

With the sounding of the final horn, the Panthers rushed to the far end of the field, circling junior goalie Kevin Morency. The 5-foot-8 Morency, who made five saves in the win, quickly disappeared amongst his taller teammates.

Morency earned the starting spot toward the end of last season, when coach John Pynchon’s squad was on its way to its second straight Division 2 North title.

“He rotated in at first, but then we ended up riding the hot hand and he helped out a lot in the tournament,’’ said Pynchon, who lauded his keeper’s coachability, smarts, and cred as a three-sport athlete, a growing trend with his program.

Three years ago, he was playing lacrosse for the first time, but he picked up things quickly.

Senior John Loreti was a sophomore newcomer on that squad. Now he starts as a long pole midfielder and has exceeded Pynchon’s expectations.

“I had been playing baseball since my Little League days,’’ he said.

“I never touched lacrosse, and now it’s my favorite sport.’’

The Panthers are in position to make it a three-peat in the North, and if they do, Morency and Loreti will play key roles. Two players who did not start, or develop their games at the youth level. But they have exhibited that it is never too late to get started.

After tryouts in 2014, Loreti was placed on the junior varsity. His stint didn’t last long.

“One of the varsity midfielders got hurt after the first game,’’ Loreti recalled.

“Apparently, they saw some potential in me, so they called me up.’’

His background in soccer and basketball served as a strong foundation.

“If you can find a kid that’s a gifted athlete in terms of speed and physicality, he can contribute,’’ Pynchon said.

“You can’t coach athleticism.’’

But acclimating to the intricacies of the sport takes time.

“At first, there was a lot of new terminology thrown my way that I had to process,’’ Loreti said.

“Then came the stick skills, learning how to defend one-on-one, picking through the teams’ entire strategy, and a whole lot more.’’

Beverly senior captain Jordan Rawding, who joined the town’s program in the second grade, said “When you’ve played a bit longer, the little things come quicker, and the IQ is a little more second nature. You don’t have to think about where to be eventually, you’re just there.’’

Ned Buckley, a senior defender at Wakefield High, joined the program last spring after some prodding from coach Doug Gallant, also the defensive coordinator for the football team.

“I approached him one day after football practice and asked him, ‘What are you doing in the spring?’’’ Gallant said.

Buckley wasn’t sure how to play lacrosse, and “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to learn, but my best friend [senior captain] Brandon Grinell asked me to come try out, so I took him up on it,’’ he said.

“I had to wear [Grinell’s] brother’s pads for the first few days.’’

Putting his physicality from football to use, Buckley earned a starting spot by midseason and has continued to work on his skills.

“I sat down in Brandon’s basement with him and a few others, and we basically just went through the rulebook,’’ Buckley said.

“I would just toss out questions, like ‘why does this guy have to be in a certain area?’’’

“To this day, I’ll often ask referees to elaborate on a call,’’ he added with a chuckle. “It sounds like complaining on their end, but I’m honestly just trying to learn.’’

Winchester senior midfielder Dan O’Connell joined the local youth program in the third grade. He’s been on the field since.

According to coach John Pirani , O’Connell is the first two-time captain in program history.

“They run similar formation packages in the youth leagues, and a lot of high school coaches and players help out,’’ O’Connell said.

Two of his teammates, junior attack Brennan Clarke and senior midfielder Adam Johnston , dedicated their spring seasons to lacrosse in the eighth grade.

“I owe so much to Coach [Pirani] and the rest of the staff,’’ Johnston said.

Clarke has maintained participation in cross-country and basketball, while Johnston has stuck with football. Their involvement in other sports, according to O’Connell, have given Clarke and Johnston the tools to excel in lacrosse alongside those with more experience.

“Adam’s got good feet movement from football,’’ O’Connell said

“You can see Brennan’s speed and that comes from cross-country, and his ability to roll off guys comes from basketball. He’s tremendous in beating guys.’’

Clarke said his development has been aided by his elusiveness and learning how to work with his teammates.

“I was getting destroyed by defenders because I didn’t know where to look for the open man,’’ he said.

“I had the necessary toughness at first, but I needed to get my stick skills up to the level of someone like [O’Connell],’’ Johnston said.’’

“His movement and passing is habitual at this point. That’s what I’m working towards.’’

They are all driven by their determination to succeed.

“I don’t like being mediocre at things,’’ said Morency, always the competitor.

“That drives my willingness to learn and not let my team down.’’

Ethan Schroeder can be reached at ethan.schroeder@globe.com.