LYNNFIELD — It may have taken a while, but once No. 26 Lynnfield (11-3-5) found its rhythm, it was lights out for visiting No. 39 Montachusett Tech (8-8-2). The Pioneers won 4-0 at home in the preliminary round of the Division 3 boys soccer tournament.
For the first 30 minutes, the Pioneers launched an all-out assault on the Bulldogs’ goal, but Monty Tech’s defense stood tall, repelling every chance that came its way.
That changed late in the first half and early in the second, when the Pioneers exploded for four goals over a 17-minute span to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
From there, the bench took care of business to preserve the shutout for starting goalie Dino Gesamondo, a senior, and junior goalie Kellen Farias and punch the Pioneers’ ticket into the round of 32 at No. 7 Old Rochester on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Bowdoin College–bound senior captain Rocco Scenna had a hand in all four goals, scoring two and assisting on two. Juniors Ollie Morgan and Brendan Reilly each scored once, while senior captain Mohammed Ayari and junior Johnny Powers recorded one assist apiece.
“It was 0-0 for a long time, so that first goal by Ollie was a big one,” Lynnfield head coach Brent Munroe said. “To be honest, I thought we played well throughout. It was just hard to get that first one, but once we did, we were pretty confident. We’ve been in a little bit of a funk lately — losing players to injuries and our last two games of the regular season — so we weren’t coming in the way we had hoped. It was great to get the win tonight.”
“These kids have trained really well and have had a great season,” Bulldogs coach Mark Bowden said. “Lynnfield is a very good team with a lot more depth than we have, but they also have some top-flight players. No. 19 (Scenna) is a classy player. No. 15 (Ayari) and No. 18 (Sam Curley) are also very good. It was a good game.”
Morgan scored the game winner at the 9:00 minute mark of the first half. He cut past two Bulldogs’ defenders, drawing out the goalie, then drilled it low inside the far post to make it 1-0.
With less than two minutes left in the half, Scenna took a feed from Powers and buried it to double the lead heading into halftime.
Lynnfield kept its foot on the gas in the second half. Scenna fired a shot that was tipped over the crossbar, earning a corner. Ayari floated the ensuing ball to the far post, where Scenna headed it home in the 37th minute. Five minutes later, Scenna threaded a pass through the defense to Reilly, who capped the scoring.
“I’m glad for him (Brendan), because he’s been snake bitten when it comes to goals,” Munroe said. “It was good to get everyone in and they played well. Most of those guys are younger and smaller, so it sometimes is hard to compete, but they’re good players. Today the size and strength was even, so it worked out for them and they competed well.”
Munroe said he was also pleased with the Pioneers’ execution.
“Rocco really dominated the whole game. Mo (Ayari) and (senior captain) Nate Zalvan were terrific in the holding mid positions. Our game plan was to get the ball wide to Ollie and Brendan and then hopefully spreading it out would give time to Rocco in the middle,” Munroe said. “I thought that worked pretty well, but we had to execute it and the kids who executed it were really Mo and Nate who were finding the players out wide.”
The win kept the Pioneers’ opening round win streak in the tournament alive for a 23rd year. The last time they dropped an opening round game was in 2002.
“We don’t like to talk about that too much because they shouldn’t have to feel any pressure,” Munroe joked.
While the Pioneers finished the season undefeated at home (7-0-2), going on the road in the next round against Old Rochester will be a challenge.
“Old Rochester is a much higher seed than we are and I expect them to be a very good team,” Munroe said. “We’ll probably have to play our best game to have a chance.”
