The No. 10 Pioneers kicked off the Division IV state tournament just the way they had hoped, defeating No. 23 Ipswich 2-1 at home on a crisp Tuesday afternoon.
Deadlocked in a scoreless tie with less than three minutes to play in the first half, the Pioneers exploded with two goals in a little more than a minute to take the lead – for good.
The Tigers made it a one-goal game with 1:39 to play, but thanks to a stellar effort from the back line, midfield, and junior goalkeeper Lauren MacDonald, the Pioneers held on to punch their ticket to the Round of 16 where they will play the winner of Friday’s game between No. 7 Hopedale and No. 26 West Bridgewater.
The Pioneers had beaten Ipswich 3-0 in the regular season, but Lynnfield coach Samantha Pindara was taking nothing for granted.
“I thought we came out strong. Ipswich is a good team, so I don’t believe we came out slow. I thought we played really well today,” she said. “I think we played hard. Ipswich is a strong defensive team and we ended up capitalizing in the second quarter.”
Ipswich pressed from the get-go and nearly took the lead late in the first quarter when Estelle Gromko’s shot just missed the far post.
Lynnfield stepped up the action in the second quarter and had several chances before finally getting on the board at the 2:50 mark. That’s when senior Melissa Caprio converted a rebound after a corner (1-0).
The Pioneers doubled the lead 80 seconds later when Caprio wiggled her way toward goal, drawing Tigers’ goalie Abbie Allen out of the net. From there, junior Taylor Valiton picked up a loose ball and flicked it past Allen to make it a 2-0 game with 1:30 remaining in the half. Sophia Fiorentino was credited with the assist.
Allen put on a clinic at times, aggressively coming out of the net in scrums to break up several Pioneer chances, often sprawled out and seemingly defenseless flat on the ground.
“Their goalie is excellent. I think she’s the best goalie in the Cape Ann League,” Pindara said. “She’s only a sophomore and is dangerous… we will see her all season long in the next couple of years.”
The second half was back-and-forth. With less than six minutes left, Ipswich flooded the box, but senior Maddie Sieve saved the day with a long clear to midfield to back up the Tigers.
Lynnfield junior Gia Marotta countered, working the ball downfield into a scrum in the box, but her shot was blocked. Ipswich’s Natalie Whitten made a long run down the right side and drew a corner, taken by Harper Ross. Whitten was in the right place at the right time to slam it home to make it 2-1.
Whitten made another long run, only to come up short at the buzzer.
Pindara highlighted the play of freshman Lauren Mattia, senior Caprio, Marotta, Valiton, and sophomore Lily Aves.
“They all played great,” Pindara said. “All three of our middies have been consistent for us all year long and they showed that today, and, also, I thought Lily made some great saves from our center back position.”
Pindara said one area of focus that paid off against Ipswich was the Pioneers’ ability to use multiple parts of the field to maintain possession, as well as their strong communication skills.
“We’ve done a lot of work on that, using the whole field,” Pindara said. “Sometimes in life, you have to go backwards to go forwards and in field hockey, you have to do that too. It’s something they have been working on and they put it to the test today. The defense communicated well as a whole and all three phases of the game did their job today.”
Ipswich coach Nikki Pignoni said the game came down to one second-quarter miscue.
“I think that one breakdown on that second goal ultimately cost us, but I am proud of that game,” she said. “Our players really stepped up today. We practice corners all year and I was pleased that we scored on that corner. We had some players who were able to keep the ball in the offensive end for much of the game, so I have to be happy with our effort today.”
