Lynnfield girls soccer vies for North sectional crown

LYNNFIELD – The Lynnfield High girls soccer team will face a somewhat familiar foe when it plays North Reading in the Division 3 North final Saturday at 2 p.m. at Manning Field in Lynn.Although the Pioneers are in the Cape Ann League Small and North Reading is in the Large, they met once during the regular season with Lynnfield winning, 2-1.?It was a good battle,” Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont said “They’re a disciplined team and overall they have good speed. They’re just solid. They’re strong all around and they have a good goalie.”Vermont said North Reading doesn’t have a 20-goal scorer, but like his own team, spreads the scoring around so you can’t count on shutting down just one person.?They’re very well balanced,” he said, adding that in the game earlier this season, neither team had a lot of shots on net. The game was played primarily between the two 18-yard lines.No. 3 Lynnfield (15-4-2) has some added incentive to get past No. 9 North Reading (13-6-2). Last year Lynnfield lost in the North final,on penalty kicks to Newburyport.?One of our goals was to try and get back to the North final,” Vermont said. “We want to get another opportunity.”In 2012, the Pioneers failed to qualify for the tournament, but the year before, they lost in the semifinals. Lynnfield did manage to snap the Manning Field curse (six losses at the Lynn complex prior to defeating Triton in the semifinals earlier this week).Although North Reading is the lower seed, Vermont doesn’t put much stock in the seedings considering North Reading is in the CAL Large and has to play teams like Masconomet, Newburyport and Hamilton-Wenham twice.?It’s not a power ranking. Their schedule straight up in the league is a little more difficult because we only play those teams once,” he said.Hannah Travers will give the Pioneers a veteran presence in net. The midfield is also very solid with Emily Scollard, an Eastern Mass and All-State all-star, as well as Paige MacEachern.?They’ve really been the anchors in the middle,” Vermont said.Liz Reed plays on the outside or as a forward and has been very composed. Vermont said she has four goals and approximately 15 assists and does an excellent job getting the ball to Jess Duhaime, who has “13 or 14″ goals. Vermont said Reed has really been coming into her own this season and has been especially tough down the stretch.Vermont has been rotating six players through the defense ? Kelly Look, Abby Petras, Kelly Nevils, Meryl Braconnier, Haley Iapicca and Christa Romano.?They’ve all come together,” he said. “That’s a big deal to be able to give your defense a little rest and still have stability and consistency.”Vermont, in his 14th year as head coach of the Pioneers, said with both teams sporting excellent defenses breaking through could be a challenge.?We just have to keep battling and capitalize on the chances we get,” Vermont said.