Lynnfield girls soccer reaches D3 North finals

WOBURN – For the first time since the fall of 2004, the Lynnfield girls soccer team will play for the Division 3 North championship. The Pioneers? 4-0 victory over Triton on Wednesday evening sets up a title tilt with No. 1 Newburyport on Sunday night at Manning Field in Lynn (5:45).?We are where we wanted to be from the start,” explained Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont of a season that featured a 14-2-2 record, the No. 2 seed and a 5-1 quarterfinals victory over Bishop Fenwick. “The goal from here is to go 1-0.”The Pioneers never really presented the No. 11 Vikings with much of a chance, as their rock-solid defense kept the ball in the Triton end all night. Offensively, Lynnfield scored twice in each half, including two tallies from senior co-captain Jackie Whelan.Freshman Liz Reed broke through first at the 29:54 mark after back-to-back corner kicks had the Vikings gasping for air. Reed put home a pass from junior Paige MacEachern after a scramble in the box.Just over 10 minutes later, Whelan increased the lead on another assist from MacEachern. With Triton keeper Christine Ciccone caught far out of her net, MacEachern chipped the ball over her head to Whelan, who hit the open net.?We settled into the game nicely, moved the ball well and met the physicality Triton came out with,” said Vermont of the quick start. “We created some opportunities and put them in the back of the net.”After weathering a four-minute push from Triton to open the second half, the Pioneers put the game away with goals just 1:28 apart early in the period.The sophomore class got on the scoresheet at 34:16 when Kelly Look?s pass from the right side at midfield found Emily Scollard in open space. The Pioneers senior co-captain made no mistake in burying her shot to the right side.Then, 88 ticks later, Whelan ran onto a ball in the open and looped a shot over Ciccone, who came out aggressively in pursuit of the slow roller. Whelan nearly had the hat trick in the 27th minute, but her shot off a MacEachern header missed to the right post.?We?ve gotten contributions all year long from the underclassmen like Liz and Kelly,” explained Vermont of his team?s ability to mesh four talented classes. “It?s been impressive from the pre-season on and it?s nice to have them on this great run.”