DANVERS — St. John’s Prep boys lacrosse coach John Pynchon has no problem with people reminding him that the Eagles are going for their fourth straight Division 1 state title.

“I’m not going to give back the other three, so I can’t complain about people reminding me of it,” Pynchon said after his team’s 14-9 home-opening win over Catholic Memorial on Glatz Field Tuesday.

“I don’t care if people remind us of it,” said Pynchon. “It just means we’re doing something right. It creates challenges of a different sort, and those challenges make you stronger in the long run.”

Though the Eagles weren’t in serious trouble Tuesday, things were still close after three periods (8-5 St. John’s). Pynchon attributed a lot of that to early-season rustiness.

“For our second game of the year, we did a lot of good things. We played good defense, and we had good movement. Perhaps if we’d been playing this game in May or June, we’d see things differently.”

As usual, The Prep’s Jake Vana was in the middle of things all evening. The senior midfielder had three of the Eagles’ 14 goals, and got his team off to a strong start with a goal right out of the gate in the first period. After CM tied it at 1-1, Vana struck again. St. Johns, 2-0, maintained the lead for the rest of the afternoon.

Pynchon, who has had Vana patrolling the middle of the field for all three of his team’s titles, shakes his head in awe at his star’s aptitude for the game – and for all sports he plays.

“He’s just special,” Pynchon said. “He has such a head for the game – and for hockey, and for soccer. He’s always where he’s supposed to be, and always makes the right play.”

It wasn’t just Vana, though. The Eagles got scoring from several players, including Oliver Rosselli (2), Cam McCarthy (2), Luke Kelly, Jim Nardone, Drew Bossi, Madden McGowan and Nicholas Schibli.

The Eagles couldn’t seem to shake the Knights through three periods, but in a span of about four minutes in the final quarter, The Prep settled the issue.

In three of the four periods, St. John’s struck early to put CM on its heels. In the final period, it was McCarthy scoring out of the gate to make it 9-5 Prep. In short order, Vana and Schibli scored to make it 11-5. From there, the teams traded goals, with Rosselli getting two and Bossi the final one.