LYNNFIELD — As the curtains came to a close on another girls soccer regular season, both Marblehead (8-8-1) and Lynnfield (14-2-2) looked to end it on the right foot – no pun intended – heading into the state tournament.
In a matchup Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont described as having “tournament-like atmosphere,” his Lady Pioneers got the job done, 3-1.
Better yet, the tough competition will help Lynnfield come postseason, according to Vermont.
“Marblehead is such a strong team and we want to play strong teams. So, to end the regular season with a win gives us a good feeling going into the tournament,” he said.
It also put Lynnfield in prime position to keep its top-five seeding in the MIAA’s Division IV power rankings.
“Our goal is to try and get as good of a ranking as we can,” Vermont said. “We did everything we could today to make that happen.”
They certainly did, and in early fashion. Bella Carroll scored her 20th goal of the season just four minutes in off a beautiful cross from Hannah Ozanian (1-0).
Five minutes later, freshman Pioneer Giada Antidormi scored her first varsity goal with a snipe from nearly 30 yards out to give her side a 2-0 cushion.
After a timeout and formation change from Magicians’ coach Lisa Wales, Marblehead put itself right back in it with 24 minutes remaining in the half. Sadie Halpern put one away on the doorstep to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
Unfortunately for Marblehead, its momentum was short-lived as the first-half tally was all the Magicians got.
Marblehead kept its pressure up, however, and even had a point-blank scoring chance with 23 minutes remaining in the game, but a diving stop from Lynnfield goalkeeper Ava Gamache took the opportunity away.
“She’s trained so hard,” said Vermont, raving about Gamache’s performance in net. “I’m glad for her to get that [save].”
Lynnfield found its dagger with 10 minutes remaining as Megan Woods finished off a cross from Catie Kampersal, solidifying a 3-1 lead – and victory – for the hosts.
Even after the loss, Wales was happy to see her team’s second-half performance.
“I thought in the second half, truthfully, we outplayed them,” Wales said. “[Lynnfield] is a physical team and they definitely did what they had to do.”
Vermont was excited to see three goal-scorers from his side after most of his team’s production had come through Carroll this season.
“And we keep saying: Carroll can’t be the only one to score, so we’ve got other people scoring which makes us way more dangerous,” he said.
With the state tournament up next, Vermont and company await any and all challenges.
“Division IV is loaded and the tournament is a whole different beast,” he said. “I’m proud of them. They’re going to enjoy this win.”
