LYNNFIELD — On a chilly November afternoon, the No. 7 Lynnfield field hockey team had the hot hand as it defeated the No. 10 Georgetown Royals 4-1 on Wednesday at Pioneer Stadium.
For Lynnfield coach Samantha Pindara, her squad has been finding its form at the right time.
“We’re playing as a team, we’re playing together, we’re listening to each other, we’re talking to each other and that’s really what’s propelling us to put the ball in the back of the net,” she said.
In the first quarter, the Pioneers had some opportunities to score, but Georgetown goalie Michelle Mondi made some great kick saves.
It appeared as though both sides were about to enter halftime with no score, but Lynnfield finally broke through when Julia Carbone assisted on the first goal of the game as Georgia Milne slammed the pass into the bottom corner of the net to give Lynnfield a 1-0 lead with just over a minute left in the half.
Coming out of halftime, the Pioneers had an impressive run of play and put Georgetown under pressure. Pindara said it all came down to her team simplifying their game.
Lynnfield’s hard work paid off, as Anna Kaminski scored her first of two goals with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
Soon the Pioneers had a 3-0 lead after captain Jacqui Carbone scored off of a corner with three minutes left in the quarter.
“(Her) ability to read balls in the midfield, step up to balls, and intercept passes (is) some of the best that I have seen in my career,” Pindara said of Carbone.
Before the end of the third quarter, the Royals got on the board with a goal coming off the stick of Ella Tucker.
Kaminski scored her second goal of the match with seven minutes left in the final frame and the Pioneers held on to the three-goal lead for the rest of the match.
The loss wasn’t all bad for Georgetown. Head coach Meagan Hildebrand believes that the match will be an experience that her young squad can learn from.
“We actually don’t have a single player on the team that has ever been in the playoffs for any sport so I think it was a little bit of we were pumped for the first round, we got ourselves there, we had all of this hype and energy around that and I’m just not sure we were able to sustain it,” she said.
Lynnfield (9-6-5) will now face No. 2 Manchester Essex in the Division 4 quarterfinal at a date and time to be determined.
