MARBLEHEAD — The Lynnfield field hockey team grinded out a gritty 3-0 win in the rain at Marblehead Saturday morning.
Tied at 0-0, the game was up for grabs at the half. Truth be told, the Pioneers dominated possession in the first half, but Marblehead’s defense turned away every opportunity. That is, until the second half when the Pioneers scored three goals in a 15-minute span to ice the win.
“It was good. We’ve been working on the fact that we tend to be a second-half team this season,” Lynnfield coach Samantha Pindara said. “Marblehead was good. We already played them earlier this season and we knew they were going to come out hard on their own field, so I think we had to adjust to them in the second half and we did. We’ve really been working on our passing and spreading the field. We have some really great speed in our midfield and forward lines, so if we can get the ball past their mids and defenders, we know we will get an opportunity on net.”
Marblehead coach Mia Maccario said that, while the Magicians surrendered three second-half goals, she was pleased with the team’s defensive performance and that holding the Pioneers to just three goals was a positive takeaway.
“Our last few games, our magic number was like 5-0, so I was doubly-happy with our effort today. It was kind of nice to get the score down to just 3-0,” she said. “My defense down near the net played very well, especially on the corners, saving a lot of shots and we had a lot of them. They just really did a great job stopping a lot of goals from going in.”
Lynnfield came out on fire in the second half, serving notice it was stepping up its attack. Izzy Fiorentino, playing with goggles after taking a ball to the face in a recent game, broke the ice just 32 seconds into the third quarter to put the Pioneers on top, 1-0.
“She’s a tough kid and has been banged up a couple of times this season, the eye being the big one,” Pindara said. “But she’s tough and she just says, ‘I just put the goggles on and keep going.'”
The Magicians had a great chance to tie the game about five minutes later when Savannah Caruso fed Gabby Hendy in close, earning Marblehead its first corner of the game. Caruso inserted the ball to Avrey Black, but her shot was cleared by the Pioneers’ defense.
With a little more than six minutes left in the quarter, Lynnfield’s Lauren Mattia doubled the lead to 2-0 on a penalty stroke.
Lynnfield had several chances to put the game away over the rest of the quarter when Marblehead goalkeeper Maggie Beauchesne got caught out of the net three times, but Kate Andriano came up with three defensive saves in a five-minute span to keep Lynnfield from adding to its lead.
Lynnfield’s Taylor Valiton added an insurance goal with 14:30 to play in the game.
“I think Taylor was working hard today. She and Lauren Mattia really worked well together on that right side. Lauren is only a ninth-grader and is brand, brand new to the program, but she’s just worked herself in and I thought that Gia Marotta was strong for us in the middle as well,” Pindara said. “I think some of the girls who play in the middle don’t get enough credit for the ball movement because they don’t get as many goals, but I feel like they are major playmakers for us in the middle of the field.”
Defensively, Pindara praised the performances of Maddie Mastrangelo and Melissa Caprio.
“Marblehead had a bunch of breakaway chances,” Pindara said. “They have some fast forwards and she did great stepping up from that deep sweeper position getting the ball out. And I think Melissa Caprio did a great job on the left side.”
Maccario praised the play of Beauchesne, who had an extremely busy day with 14 saves, under pressure from the get-go.
“She did a great job today and I always want to totally make sure that somebody is backing up the goalie. That’s my biggest thing, that if a ball does get past our goalie, there is someone there to back her up,” Maccario said. “Our goalie loves to play out, so it gives us the advantage that way, and so we can play to her style as well. With certain teams, we may have her play back a little more, but we always have that support for her.”
Lynnfield’s (9-5-2) next game is Monday at North Reading (5:45 p.m.), while Marblehead (3-11-2) is back in action Monday at St. Mary’s (4 p.m.).
