The Lynnfield field hockey team defeated Cape Ann League rival Manchester-Essex 1-0 in Sunday’s Division 2 North quarterfinal at Hyland Field.
For nearly 59 minutes, defense ruled and neither team broke through.
But Maddie Murphy was in the right place at the right time to knock home a rebound off a penalty-corner shot by Carolyn Garofoli. The third of three consecutive Pioneers with under three minutes left, Garofoli put the ball on net, then Murphy dug it out of heavy traffic and drilled it into the net. Time of the goal was 1:34.
The goal was the sixth for Murphy in two tournament games. She has scored every Pioneer goal in the postseason and assisted on the two that she did not.
The Hornets had one last chance to tie it on a corner with under a minute left. Once again, it was Murphy who came up huge, breaking it up and carrying the ball downfield to kill the clock.
“When we first started out, it was back-and-forth and we started to get a little more momentum as the game progressed,” said Lynnfield coach Mamie Reardon. “I would say we took the first half and they took the second. We had opportunities and executed some corners, they just didn’t happen to go in.
The win punched the No. 5 Pioneers’ ticket to the semifinal for a second-straight year. They’ll take on No. 1 Watertown Wednesday (7).
FIELD HOCKEY
Pentucket 1, Fenwick 0
Fenwick’s season ends with a close loss in the Division 2 North quarterfinal. The Crusaders end the season at 17-3.
VOLLEYBALL
Lynnfield 3, North Reading 0
The final score of Saturday’s first-round match in the Division 2 North Volleyball tournament between the top-seeded and undefeated Lynnfield Pioneers and archrival North Reading, the No. 16 seed, doesn’t come close to describing how tight a match it was.
While the Pioneers prevailed, winning their 21st consecutive straight-set 3-0 win, the Hornets pushed the Pioneers to the limit before going down, 25-19, 25-23, 25-15.
“I’m not sure it it was nerves with the first tournament game, but we came out so flat,” said Lynnfield coach Brent Ashley. “We had some players have off days, but Sophia (Wilkinson) and Sofia (Ciriello) both had strong games. Sophia had 16 assists, which was big and she was the big person for us. She fed the offense the whole game.
“Sofia Ciriello (6 digs, 2 aces) had a great day and I am thinking about taking the libero jersey away so she can get more balls, that’s how well she is playing.”
Ashley Pagliuca (7 digs), Mac Schena (3 digs, block) and Daniella Colarusso (4 digs) also played well.
The Pioneers advance to Tuesday’s (6) quarterfinal round match against No. 8 Tewksbury.
FOOTBALL
Hamilton-Wenham 35, Winthrop 7
In a non-tournament game Saturday, Bobby Hubert (100 rushing yards) scored Winthrop’s lone touchdown on a 10-yard run. Juan Sanchez split the uprights on the PAT.
“We moved the ball pretty well,” Winthrop coach Jonathan Cadigan said. “We stalled inside the red zone. We threw two interceptions in the red zone and obviously that doesn’t help you. We couldn’t stop their passing game. We’ve seen some pretty good quarterbacks but this one was one of the better ones we saw. He was great in terms of passing and running.”
Winthrop (2-6) hosts Arlington Catholic Friday (7).
CROSS COUNTRY
St. Mary’s senior Taban Manyok finished fifth in the Frank Mooney Coaches Invitational junior/senior 5k with a time of 16:24.
