BURLINGTON — Wednesday’s Division 2 North semifinal between the No. 5 Lynnfield field hockey team and No. 1 Watertown was a year in the making for the Pioneers. Watertown, behind a questionable game-changing call, knocked Lynnfield out in last year’s sectional semifinal.
But this time the Pioneers came prepared and rose to the occasion, earning a 1-0 win at Burlington Stadium.
“It’s indescribable,” Lynnfield coach Mamie Reardon said. “I’m so over the moon for these kids because they’ve worked very hard for the past year. Knowing that we did lose to Watertown last year, four of our players played in that game so to come back and do this was a dream come true.
“I respect (Watertown’s) program so much. To think that we came in here and took control and won this game is indescribable.”
Lynnfield was powered by an amazing defensive performance, led by goalkeeper Ava O’Brien who came up with multiple clutch saves.
“Ava has just progressively gotten better and better each and every week,” Reardon said. “We can’t say enough about her. She has kept us in these big games. She’s just dynamite.”
Lily Rothwell netted the game-winner for the Pioneers off a nice assist from Madison Murphy late in the first half.
“Lily did a nice job scoring that goal,” Reardon said. “We just try to get the ball and do a lot of give-and-go’s. We use our speed because that’s what we have. Lily and Madison are very fast. After that it’s just being smart about where you go and how you get to the net.”
The Pioneers got off to a fast start with some offensive pressure early on but came away with nothing to show for it.
Watertown got on the offensive next but the Pioneers’ defense didn’t back down. Lynnfield defended three Watertown corners in the first half to keep the game scoreless.
In the final several minutes of the first half, Watertown had its best chance of the first half but O’Brien made the play of the night. Margaret Driscoll looked to have an open shot on goal after a misdirected shot but O’Brien made a diving stop across the net to keep things tied at 0-0.
Just a few minutes later, Murphy gained possession down field and fed Rothwell a nice leading pass. Rothwell made the most of it, slipping past a Watertown defender and scoring to give Lynnfield a 1-0 lead.
Watertown responded with an onslaught of offensive chances in the second half. The pressure started right away with a corner opportunity in the first 30 seconds and it didn’t stop for the rest of the game.
Watertown had 13 total corners and the Pioneers were down a player twice in the second half but O’Brien made a handful of stops and Lynnfield’s defense was strong on its sticks to hold on to the 1-0 win.
“My defense, with Ava, was absolutely incredible,” Reardon said. “We worked all week on hard shot stopping and passing it out, getting the ball off to the sidelines or out to our outlets. I can’t tell you how happy I am with that, that was key. You always say, ‘offense wins games but defense wins championships.’ I thought we had a nice flow of both.”
The Pioneers advance to the Division 2 North final, where they’ll take on No. 6 Gloucester Saturday (1) at Reading High.