Lynnfield girls fall in state final

WORCESTER – Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be and that was the case Friday in Lynnfield’s 5-0 loss to Nipmuc Regional High School in the Division 3 state final at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.The Pioneers were in trouble from the get-go. Nipmuc, which finished 22-1-1, had a brutal offense and a defense that takes stingy to a new level. With the win the Warriors finish the season with 19 shutouts.”Nipmuc played a great game,” Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont said. “I’m so proud of my girls for the class they showed and how hard they battled.”The Nipmuc Warriors dominated play in the first half and it paid off early. Just 17 minutes into the game, junior Kiley Larocque took the ball down the right side and drilled a shot that went in the far corner of the net for a 1-0 Nipmuc lead.The Warriors? defense didn?t give anything away. Lynnfield struggled to get the ball inside the 30-yard line and on the few occasions when the Pioneers came within striking distance, the Warrior defense swooped in and cleared the ball out of the zone. Lynnfield didn’t put a shot on net in the first half, and finished with just one shot on. While at the other end, Lynnfield goalie Hannah Travers faced 14 shots.Nipmuc scored its second goal with 11:59 left in the first half. Travers and Nipmuc’s Stephanie Esker were in a foot race to get to a through ball. They got there at the same time but Travers? attempt to clear the ball went off Esker and Esker got to the ball, shooting at an open net for the goal.Nipmuc took a 2-0 lead into the break and, although not insurmountable on paper, the Warriors were never in any real danger of seeing this one slip away. Nipmuc picked up where they left off and never let up on the pressure.Nipmuc senior Gabriella Carreiro, who will be playing for Boston College next year, came as advertised. She was lightning quick with excellent foot skills. She had a couple of strong moves to the net that Abby Petras and the Lynnfield defense thwarted a couple of times. But Carreiro got the upper hand just under nine minutes into the second half. She danced around a defender in front of the net, went to her left and then got off a rocket of a shot that found the far corner for a 3-0 lead.The Warriors made it 4-0 on a point-blank shot by Madison Neri that Travers had no chance on. Fittingly, it was Carreiro who scored her team’s final goal of the night when she ran more than half the length of the field all alone and scored on the breakaway.”They moved the ball well,” Vermont said. “Their one-two touch is hard to defend.”Vermont was impressed with Carreiro. But she wasn?t the only weapon for the Warriors.”It’s not just her,” Vermont said. “She’s a great player, but they have a great squad. One player doesn’t make a team. I think she would agree.”Vermont said Nipmuc has a lot of talent and Lynnfield has a lot of talent.”They just moved the ball well and got it done,” Vermont said.The Pioneers won their last state title in 2004, while Nipmuc won state titles in 2005 and 2006. Howard Cohen, who has coached the Warriors for the last eight years, will take a state title with him into retirement after this season.