LYNNFIELD — There weren’t a lot of quality scoring chances in Tuesday afternoon’s battle against Chelmsford, but the host Pioneers (5-2-2) made the most of them when needed, defeating the Lions, 2-0, in a game in which defense ruled for both teams.
Sophomore Lauren Mattia scored the game-winning goal off a set piece with seven seconds remaining in the first quarter. Senior captain Taylor Valiton added an insurance goal with about three minutes to go in the second.
Senior goalie and captain Lauren MacDonald turned away seven shots, a couple of them during the last five minutes when Chelmsford ramped up its offensive attack and had Lynnfield pinned deep in its own end, only to be denied.
“Lauren came up huge for us today and I’m really happy she got the shutout,” said first-year head coach Kerri Doherty. “It did get a little scary there for a little while at the end, but Lauren maintained her poise and composure and has really come a long way in terms of her defensive communication. Things like who is marking who and her leadership in the background are impressive. The key to defense, obviously, is communication, so she has been such an important player for us.”
Chelmsford came out on the attack in the first quarter, keeping the ball for much of the quarter in the offensive zone.
Lynnfield’s first real chances came with less than 90 seconds to play when it forced two corners. Chelmsford denied the first one, but wasn’t as fortunate on the second. Valiton inserted the ball to senior captain Gia Marotta, who slipped it right to Mattia whose shot was redirected through traffic past Lions’ goalie Zoe Ryan.
“That’s a corner that we’ve practiced and that’s what you want on corners,” Doherty said. “That was an excellent opportunity for us and it was picture perfect.”
Lynnfield flipped the script in the second quarter, controlling the pace of play and possession. With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Marotta fired a shot on goal. Ryan made a kick save, but the rebound found Valiton, who slammed it home.
“We adjusted in that second quarter by redirecting our focus on taking it 15 minutes at a time,” Doherty said. “One quarter at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves. It was about just trying to outwork the opponent for those 15 minutes. I honestly thought it was pretty even in that quarter, but we made the adjustments we needed to make.”
Doherty said Marotta had her “best game of the season,
“They couldn’t penetrate through the midfield because of our presence,” Doherty said. “Gia and Lauren Mattia and (senior) Libby Considine in there have been playing outstanding, but I think that today, Gia’s play was commendable and she definitely is a player to watch. She’s a huge threat in the league, not to mention today in a non-league game against a great Division 1 team. Gia really controlled the field today. She won every 50-50 ball she went for, she had some great outlet passes, and she really helped us execute our gameplan.”
Doherty commended the defensive play of sophomore Hayden Valiton, junior Lily Alves, and senior Chloe Gromko, especially as things got tense toward the end.
“It gets a little scary as a coach, but knowing that, I noticed that in the third, we were playing a bit of tennis just whacking it back and forth. I tell them this all the name that, as a defender, if that ball is on your stick and controlled, being smart and using your body as a shield, if you can’t make a clear out to the sideline, then they have to know, ‘When in doubt, get it out,’ and they did.”
Doherty also held high praise for junior Izzy Fiorentino.
“Izzy did a great job today. She and Libby worked really well together clearing balls out and had a huge presence back tackling,” Doherty said. “And Izzy is working really hard off the ball to get open, but it’s knowing that you have to come back and back tackle on those positions, especially in the midfield.”
The Pioneers’ next game is Saturday at home against undefeated Sutton at 1 p.m. Sutton (8-0) comes into the game as the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 power rankings. The Pioneers are ranked seventh.
“We agreed to a home-and-home series with them and played them out there last year. Sutton is a team we could very well see in the tournament,” Doherty said. “Sutton has consistently been a top-four team in Division 4 for the past several years, so that will be a very important matchup for us. That’s a game that shouldn’t be missed, to be honest.”
