LYNNFIELD — In a Round of 16 Division 4 matchup between host and No. 4 Lynnfield and No. 13 Swampscott, both teams battled to the bitter end, but by the time the dust settled, it was the Big Blue moving on to the Elite Eight with a 9-7 win.
Trailing 5-4 at the half, the Big Blue turned up the defensive pressure on the Pioneers, holding them to just two second-half goals. Down by two with a little more than five minutes to go, Lynnfield’s Owen Considine buried a pass from Will Norton to make it a one-goal game. The Pioneers ramped up the pressure the rest of the way and had several good looks at netting the equalizer, only to come up empty. With 33 ticks left on the clock, Swampscott’s Chase Russo (from Jason Rothwell) put the nail in the Pioneers’ coffin with an insurance goal.
“We have four great seniors who play with great energy and at halftime, they just refused to let it slip out of their hands,” Swampscott head coach Geoffrey Beckett said. “We moved a couple of guys around just to mix things up a little and tried a couple of different defenses to throw them off their scent of the cage and it all paid off. The game was pretty clean and we had some trouble with clears at times, but, luckily, we were able to grind it out there at the end. Actually, that last goal gave me another heart attack as I would have preferred to kill the clock, but I’ll take a two-goal win any day.”
Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said he felt Swampscott had the edge in finishing its transition game, especially in the third quarter.
“We took a timeout there to circle the wagons, but we just needed to convert on a few more opportunities to keep pace,” Lamusta said. “I thought they were a very good transition team. I thought their goalie played very well, but to hold a team like that to under 10 goals, you just think that hopefully you can score enough goals to get it done, but we did our best to battle. It just wasn’t there in the end, is all you can say. There were a lot of 50-50 balls, jump-ball plays, ground-ball plays, chase-to-the-line plays, so it was just that close.”
Rothwell led the Big Blue attack with two goals and two assists, while Carson Palmer, John Von Barta and Russo had two goals each. Liam Keaney (goal, assist) and Samuel Brodsky (assist) also contributed.
Will Norton (3 goals, assist) and Michael Murphy (goal, assist) led the Pioneers’ offense, while Owen Doherty (goal, assist), Evan Rocha, and Considine also scored. Kelan Cardinal and Aidan Norton dished out assists.
Lynnfield goalie Ben Pimental wasn’t too shabby, finishing with 12 saves. Truth be told, Lamusta said he kept the Pioneers in the game.
“Those were huge saves and most of them were from in tight,” he said. “He played an excellent game and gave us a chance to stay in it and win it.”
Swampscott goalie Tim Sheehan was strong, finishing with nine saves.
“He’s been outstanding and earned all-league for the conference, which is a huge compliment,” Beckett said. “I’m really proud of what he has done and today was just more of the same.”
Palmer agreed.
“It was really back and forth – right to the end,” Palmer said. “We had good battles on face-offs and I was able to play it safe, but I have to highlight Timmy Sheehan. That kid’s always a rock in the net and he made some crazy saves, including those three right near the end when we were only up by one, so that was huge.”
Beckett said Palmer’s success in the face-off circle was key.
“The hardest part was, he was winning the clamps to get possession, but had a little trouble keeping it,” Beckett said. “So, we tried a few things, but these guys know how to grind.”
The win sets up a road date with No. 5 Cohasset (TBD), which beat No. 12 Ipswich, 10-5, at home on Wednesday.
