LYNN — What a turnaround it was for the Lynnfield boys soccer team.
The Pioneers, 3-5 midway through the regular season, climbed every hurdle sent their way. In the end they found themselves in the Division 3 North final for the second consecutive year.
Although Saturday’s 3-1 loss to No. 1 Bedford at Manning Field ends the postseason run a few wins short of the ultimate goal, coach Brent Munroe and his No. 10 Pioneers are proud.
“I thought there was no chance,” Munroe said of his team’s chances at reaching the sectional final during its early struggles. “There are six teams in the Cape Ann Large and we finished fifth. Those teams don’t advance in the tournament. We had to play really well the second half of this season just to get in. Really well. Our goal all year was to get in.”
The Pioneers got in and never looked back. Lynnfield defeated No. 7 Gloucester (1-0) in the opening round, No. 2 Northeast (3-1) in the quarterfinal and No. 3 Watertown (2-1) in the semifinal.
“Once you’re in you change your goals,” Munroe said. “You’d like to win a game. But we never talked about advancing this far.”
A grueling Cape Ann League schedule paid dividends during the postseason.
“We lost eight games in our league,” Munroe said. “It’s hard. You get into the tournament and you don’t think you’re going to beat some of the best teams around. We certainly did with Watertown. We got a good draw and that helped us move early. But I’m shocked we made it this far.”
Lynnfield graduates five seniors from this year’s roster. Munroe credits them for steering the ship after the season’s tough start.
“They played a huge role,” Munroe said. “We had some injuries early that led to that but they held the fort down, even to get us to three wins. We were looking at going 2-5, 2-6, 2-7. We pulled out a couple wins that were big for us at the beginning of the year just to keep us within shouting distance of the tournament. When we got some players back, we started gelling a little bit. I’m really happy.”
Seniors Thomas Hauser, Matthew Juliano, Thomas Buston and Alejandro Lynch led Lynnfield as co-captains. Fadi Dhabib rounds out the senior core.
“Buston and Hauser have been with me for four years,” Munroe said. “They’re two of the best players we’ve had in a while. They’re two of our great leaders. They’ve been to four tournaments and they’re great players.
“Alejandro’s a great, hard-nosed defender. I’m going to miss him a lot. Matthew’s a two-year defender. Fadi came up and was a great teammate.”
With 19 returners projected for next year’s roster, Lynnfield’s in good shape moving forward.
“We have some great players coming back,” Munroe said. “(Junior goalie) Dante (Gesamondo) is a great goalie. We have five freshmen on this team and they’re good players. One of them (Alexander Gentile) scored in our win over Watertown. This was a year that was like a rebuilding year. I feel pretty good that we rebuilt.”
