LYNN — Manning Field hosted two of the top girl’s soccer teams in Division 4 on Monday evening between No. 2 Hamilton-Wenham and No. 3 Lynnfield. It was Lynnfield’s second trip in as many years to the Final Four, and unfortunately for the Pioneers, they suffered the same fate as they did in 2023. The Generals beat Lynnfield 3-0 to advance to the state championship game on Saturday at Curry College.
The Generals started quickly, producing two quality chances within the first four minutes of the game. In the second minute, Hamilton-Wenham had a breakaway and found itself in a one-on-one with Lynnfield’s goalie Victoria Minor. The Generals attacker tried to take it around Minor, but Minor dove and snatched the ball away for her first save.
Moments later, Minor was again called into action when Hamilton-Wenham’s Georgia Wilson took a shot that looked like it was going in until Minor got a fingertip on the ball which hit off the crossbar and cleared away.
“She had a great game. We didn’t give her much help there, but she had a great game and it’s a learning experience to build off of,” Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont said.
Generals head coach Nancy Waddell praised Minor and thought that could have been a turning point not scoring those early chances.
“I thought it could have been 2-0 after the first four minutes,” Waddell said. “I thought, wow we needed those. We needed those, we needed to go ahead and put those in.”
Lynnfield’s best chance of the first half came when Bella Carroll found Ava Damiani in the box who took a nice turn, but the shot was blocked by Caroline Monahan to keep the game scoreless.
Moments after the block, the Generals scored their first goal. From a corner, the Generals hit the crossbar and it fell to Madeline Ciaramitaro who smashed it home for a 1-0 lead 25 minutes into the first half.
The teams went into the half with Hamilton-Wenham leading 1-0.
In the second half, there were chances by both teams but it was the Generals who found their insurance goal in the 56th minute.
Tessa Hunt was in the right place at the right time as she redirected a loose ball and knocked it near post past Minor.
17 minutes later, Hamilton-Wenham wrapped up the game with an Olimpico from Georgia Wilson to seal the victory and a berth into the state championship game 3-0.
“We had a great run with a great group of kids who worked really hard. We just got beat tonight. They beat us straight up,” Vermont said.
Lynnfield finished the season with a 16-4-2 record and Vermont praised the seniors who helped get the team back to the Final Four.
“The seniors are top-class kids and hard workers. I wish we could have done better for them tonight,” Vermont said. “Unfortunately this is part of the game.”
Vermont called his captains (Clara Caulfield, Emma Rose, Ariana Guarracino, and Carroll) “great kids” who he’s going to miss “tremendously.”
Last year, Lynnfield defeated Hamilton-Wenham 4-0 in the postseason, something that stuck with Waddle and provided motivation even if her players didn’t talk about it.
“They don’t like to admit it, but it was huge to me,” Waddell said. “I was talking to Mark Vermont before. I think I played him in the tournament more than any other coach because I used to coach at Ipswich. Lynnfield is always going to give us their best. I’m just so proud of my girls.”
No. 2 Hamilton-Wenham will face the winner of No. 1 Sutton/No. 4 Cohasset who face off on Tuesday.
