MANCHESTER ― It was a defensive battle from start to finish Saturday night in the Division 4 quarterfinal at Hyland Field, but in the end the No. 7 Lynnfield field hockey team couldn’t hold on long enough in a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Manchester-Essex.
“I could not have asked for a better performance from the girls, they played great,” said Lynnfield coach Samantha Pindara. “They followed the game plan, executed how they needed to and stayed in the game the whole way. Sometimes, good teams score and that’s what happened against us.”
While the Pioneers didn’t get any goals in the game, they did get solid performances from the likes of Jacqui Carbone, Catherine Sweeney, Lauren Grava, Charlotte Radulski and a host of others.
“The defense played incredible,” said Pindara. “We knew coming in that it would be a tough game after facing them earlier this year, and we had a much better performance this time around.”
The game was scoreless through the entire first half, with Manchester-Essex gaining an edge in corners and outshooting Lynnfield 3-1.
But early in the third quarter, the Hornets got on the board when Ella Chafe redirected a hard shot from teammate Amy Vytopilova into the back of the net to make it a 1-0 game.
A few minutes later, heavy rain and the threat of lightning put the game on pause for more than an hour.
“I think a younger team wouldn’t have been able to come out after that delay and keep competing, but our girls came out and acted like it was the first quarter,” said Pindara.
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, that didn’t result in any goals. Lynnfield had great scoring chances throughout the fourth quarter, but none found the back of the net and Manchester-Essex held on to secure the win.
Lynnfield finishes the season at 9-7-5.
“We had a senior-heavy, veteran team this year and we knew that our experience would take us far,” said Pindara. “A majority of these girls were on the 2019 Division 2 North championship team, so they knew how to win and they knew what it took. It’s going to be tough replacing not only the talent that those seniors brought, but also the leadership.”
