Bromfield defeats Lynnfield 2-1 in OT to capture D3 state title

LOWELL – Bromfield captured its second state title in three years with a 2-1 overtime decision over Lynnfield on Saturday at Cawley Stadium in Lowell.Both games were won in sudden death overtime. Both were against the same league. In 2005, Bromfield defeated Cape Ann League Small champion Ipswich, 3-2, while this year it defeated CAL Small champ Lynnfield. Both golden goals were scored by the same player, Josh Lyvers. Two years ago, he connected as a sophomore, and this year, as a senior, he put the crown on his high school career with the winner in the first sudden death overtime period.”When Lyvers gets the ball on the left wing like that, it’s usually going to go in,” Bromfield coach Thomas Hill said.Last year, Lynnfield lost to Central division champion Bartlett in the last 15 seconds of regulation of a direct kick that found its way into the net. This year, the Pioneers lost at the 13-minute mark of the first sudden death overtime.”We couldn’t have played any harder,” Lynnfield coach Brent Munroe said. “We’ve lost two state finals by one goal, so we’ve been knocking on the door. But that team we played (Saturday) was very good and we would have needed to be fortunate to win.”Lynnfield star Mike Kennedy usually roams alone in other team’s backfield. There are usually no other Lynnfield players close to him. It is their job to get the ball to Kennedy and let him do his thing. Bromfield triple-teamed him with one defender in front of him, one behind him and one inside of him. So, regardless of where he went, he was blanketed.The first 15 minutes were played cautiously by both teams. Very gradually Bromfield was staying in the Lynnfield end for longer periods of time. This usually does not bode well for the defending team. This proved out, as in the 25th minute, Lyvers carried the ball down the left wing and crossed it through the box, where sophomore Cody Osgood was left unmarked, and from five yards out, Osgood headed it over the keeper’s shoulder before he could move. This made the score Bromfield 1, Lynnfield 0.Three minutes later, the score was tied. Lynnfield midfielder Tino Acierno took a corner kick from the left side, and the ball settled on the head of Kennedy, who put a bullet into the right corner against keeper Caleb Frost. This was the first shot of the game for Kennedy and the first goal scored against Frost in the tourney. Lynnfield missed a glittering chance with fifty seconds left until halftime. Kennedy fired a rocket from 20 yards out that Frost blocked but didn’t catch. The ball bounced to Matt DeRosa six yards from the goal, and with the keeper on the ground and the whole net opened, he rushed the shot and it went over the net. The half ended with the score 1-1.The second half started with Bromfield having the wind advantage. It kept the pressure on the Lynnfield midfield, making it very difficult to get the ball to Kennedy in a location on the field where he could do some damage. At the same time, it was making runs at the Lynnfield defense. That is where Pioneer keeper, Andrew Leader came up big. Bromfield had seventeen shots on the Lynnfield net in the second half. Leader made ten saves, some of them of the spectacular variety. The other seven were modeled after a famous football place-kicker: “wide right.”Lynnfield’s defense was not as fast as the Bromfield attackers but it was able to play within itself and shut down the Trojan forwards, Lyvers, Osgood and Sam Peisch.Overtime is two fifteen-minute periods, sudden death. If there is no score, the teams go to penalty kicks.Lynnfield had the wind in the first overtime. Three minutes into the OT, Kennedy shielded the ball from the defender at the top right of the area, reversed direction and came in on the keeper unmarked. His right-footed shot hit the front of the far post and bounced out to the left wing.In the 13th minute of overtime, it all came to a sudden stop. Osgood put a through ball down the left side that a Lynnfield defender tried to get. He