LYNNFIELD — The No. 24 Lynnfield boys soccer team continued on its postseason journey as it defeated No. 41 St. Paul Diocesan, 2-0, Thursday night at Pioneer Stadium in a Division 3 tournament preliminary round game.
“I thought we played well and I just think we didn’t convert on a lot of chances, but their keeper played really well and they played really hard,” said Lynnfield coach Brent Munroe. “They were hard to break down for us and we had to work pretty hard to put them in.”
The Pioneers piled on the pressure early, getting a corner in the first minute of the match. Nickson Joseph nearly headed the cross for the first goal of the match, but a St. Paul defender was able to clear the ball off the goal line.
After that, the attack died down for Lynnfield. Munroe’s side controlled the possession battle, but failed to generate any chances in the following 10 minutes.
Joseph did nearly score on another header in the 11th minute, but sophomore goalkeeper Aidan Coppinger made a great diving save to keep the score level.
Throughout the half, the Pioneers sent dangerous crosses into the box, but they weren’t able to connect. St. Paul tried to find the advantage, playing long balls up to the strikers but just like Lynnfield, were unable to connect on any of the chances. Senior Seth Boudreau created the first dangerous opportunity for St. Paul in the 31st minute, but his shot hit the side netting.
Dom Ferrante launched a beautiful shot from the near corner of the field that rattled off the crossbar in the 35th minute and both sides ended up entering halftime tied at 0-0.
The Pioneers started the second half strong as well, with Coppinger being forced to make multiple saves in the first five minutes of the second half.
Lynnfield finally struck in the 55th minute, as a free kick from freshman Dillon Reilly found junior Alex Gentile in the box. Gentile’s first shot was saved, but he put home the rebound to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Gentile later put the nail in the coffin with a stoppage-time goal off a corner.
Munroe was happy that the previously snake-bitten Gentile was able to carry the Pioneers to a victory.
“He’s had a lot of good goal-scoring opportunities that he has hit well, hit a bunch of posts and crossbars,” said the head coach. “For him to get two (goals) was good but he’s been playing good all year.”
Reilly almost had a goal of his own in the 59th minute but once again Coppinger made a great diving save. If it wasn’t for his play the game could have been much worse for St. Paul
Throughout the second half, St. Paul continued to try and find success with the long ball but failed to test senior goalkeeper Chase Carney.
With the win, Lynnfield (10-6-3) faces No. 9 Greater New Bedford Saturday (6) in the Division 3 Round of 16.
