LYNNFIELD — On a night where they were honored, the Pioneers’ seniors shined and led their team to a tight 1-0 victory over the Beverly Panthers on Thursday at Pioneer Stadium. Julia Carbone had an assist, Sofia Raffa scored the lone goal of the game, and goalie Charlotte Radulski recorded her 10th shutout of the season.
After a scoreless first half, Lynnfield got the ball to start the third quarter and scored faster than what was thought humanly possible. When the whistle blew, Julia Carbone attacked Beverly’s defense with immense speed from the center line, and was able to squeeze the ball through a pair of defenders on the right side. Carbone continued to single-handedly carve through the Panthers’ defensive line and when she looked up, saw a wide open Sofia Raffa standing on the far side of the net. Carbone whipped the ball across the field and by the time Beverly’s goalie could slide to the far post, it was too late. Raffa tapped the ball into the back of the net to complete a scoring sequence that took just 10 seconds of the play clock.
After the game, Raffa talked about the goal and how quickly it unfolded.
“We have to come out on fire after every half, Julia used her speed to get down there and I was just there, ready,” Raffa said.
Meanwhile, for Carbone, the play happened so fast that she even surprised herself with the result.
“I expected it to go kind of well, but the goal was the outcome so I guess that’s a win,” Carbone said.
Lynnfield made it a point to score quickly after halftime due to not being able to capitalize in the first. The Pioneers had most of the scoring opportunities and their best chance of the half came in the second quarter. Sophomore Julieta Figueras dumped the ball into a crowd of black and white jerseys in Beverly’s penalty box. Multiple Pioneers had looks at the net but were unable to get a stick on the ball and it sailed all the way past the net and out of bounds.
Beverly had limited opportunities on offense, but had solid looks when the team had control of the ball. Lynnfield avoided a scare late in the second quarter on a Beverly penalty corner. The ball was put into play and the Panthers had a few scoring chances. The ball found Radulski and she wisely protected the ball as it rolled slowly out of bounds, giving her team possession.
Now with a double-digit shutout total, Radulski has been as strong as strong can get for Lynnfield, but she credits her success in net to her defense.
“It’s all the defense, I just end up tipping it at the end,” she said. “Melissa (Caprio) always ends up getting it out, Casey (Flynn) is always back, Hailey (Mihalchik) was always down there to sprint it up the field. It’s mainly the defense that gets the shutouts.”
Lynnfield outlasted a few late pushes from Beverly to secure the win with the difference being the one goal scored by Raffa at the beginning of the half. After tying with the Panthers last season, Lynnfield was looking forward to coming out with a win this time around.
With the regular season now finished, the Pioneers, who are currently ranked 6th in the MIAA Division 4 power rankings, are looking to build off the win and bring the same energy into the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s definitely giving us more confidence, especially after our last few games,” said Carbone.
“It’s total motivation, the work is never done,” Raffa said.
The Pioneers finish at 11-7-0 on the season and await the reveal of the tournament bracket this weekend to see who they’ll take on in the first round.
Ryan Vermette can be reached at [email protected]
