LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield girls soccer team is looking to make strides this season as many new faces take the field this year for the Pioneers.
Lynnfield’s girls had a nice season last year, finishing (10-6-4) overall and falling to Austin Prep in the second round of the Division 3 playoff tournament. After a good showing last year, Head Coach Mark Vermont recognizes it will be a grind to surpass the previous season’s finish.
“The biggest message is it is going to be a battle. We did have a good amount of turnover, so there is that — there is going to be a lot of new players, which is exciting but also our league is tough — the Cape Ann League is a tough league, and our non-league games are going to be tough,” said Vermont.
“My message is that everything is going to be a battle this year, so we are going to have to get after it,” he added.
In terms of turnover, Vermont explained that the team has lost some great players who were also leaders, including former goalie Samantha Bunar.
“Our goalie Samantha Bunar really was a great leader for us — goalkeeping is always a key piece of the game, so that was a big loss for us,” said Vermont.
“We lost some good goal scorers, and I think just the leadership we had — a lot of players had a good amount of experience on varsity, so now we have to find those players that are hopefully going to find their voice and help lead the team forward,” he said.
Even with the amount of turnover for the Pioneers, Vermont explained that he is confident in the new players who will be stepping up this year. “I am confident in what we have coming up that they will be able to help us varsity-wise,” said Vermont.
“We have a really strong JV program — my JV Coach Darren Damiani is just tremendous. He is a friend, but he is also a tremendous coach and really understands what the girls need to make that step to the varsity level,” said Vermont.
“So I think the kids that are trying out — they are ready, so now it is just now figuring out what we need and who is going to be there,” he added.
With practices underway, Vermont says Capts. Maggie Ozanian, Ally Sykes, and Trinity Gesamondo, have done a great job stepping up as leaders so far.
“I think our captains have done a great job organizing the girls and just leading by example. So that is huge, and they are great kids. They are also really making sure people are trying to settle in and understand what varsity is about in a way that pushes but also encourages — that has been huge for us,” said Vermont.
As the Pioneers will soon head into the regular season, Vermont hopes that the chemistry last year’s team built can be duplicated in its own way with this year’s roster.
“I thought the team gelled really well together last year, so I think this year with the turnover, I think that is going to be important for the players that were there last year — not to recreate it because every year is different but to find their own chemistry and make that effort to really work on that team chemistry,” said Vermont.
He explained that during what was an intense playoff battle with Austin Prep last year, girls were coming off the field saying how much fun they were having, which he described as a win in and of itself.
“So I think trying to recreate that — with what we have and build our own chemistry but making sure that we work on that chemistry is going to be really important,” he said.
Vermont also stressed the team’s goal of not becoming too reliant on one player for offense in case of injury and ensuring the defense is up-to-par heading into the regular season.
“We just need to be diversified in our attack, and I think defensively, we will have some new faces because we lost some of our upperclassmen who were defenders, so I think that is going to be an important thing to work on and stay tight,” he said.
The Pioneers will open their regular season by hosting Marblehead Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 4:30 p.m.
Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
