Against one of premier Division 2 teams in the state, Lynnfield’s girls lacrosse team gave host Melrose all it could handle before the Pioneers (9-11) simply ran out of time, losing, 16-14, in the final game of the regular season on Friday.
Head coach Christina Serra said that while the goal is always to win the game, she thought the way the Pioneers rose to the challenge is yet another sign of the progress the team has made this year.
“Honestly, I was expecting more of a challenge and a much harder game, so I am obviously so proud of this team,” Serra said. “This team beat Winchester, so I was definitely thinking that it would be even harder for us against a team of that caliber. I am proud of the girls for having a few leads and being neck-and-neck for the entire game. It would have been nice to win, knowing it was so close, but in my opinion, the girls played an amazing game.”
Ranked No. 13 in Division 4, the Pioneers got off to a terrific start right out of the gate. Hayden Valiton scored three goals in the first two-and-a-half minutes to stake the Pioneers to a 3-0 lead. Ava Damiani made it 4-0 at the 5:19 mark.
Melrose, which is ranked No. 11, regrouped after a timeout and finally broke through with about three minutes left in the quarter. Valiton got that one back a minute later to make it a 5-1 game. Then, Melrose closed out the quarter with two unanswered goals to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The game leveled out in the second quarter with both teams going back and forth. Tied at 7-7, the Pioneers regained the lead on a goal from Taylor Valiton with just 14 seconds left in the half. Maddie Mastrangelo notched an assist, threading the needle through traffic to Valiton alone outside the crease for the score.
Melrose took its first lead of the game at the 2:42 mark of the third quarter, 10-9, and doubled the lead to 11-9 with 32 seconds to go. Damiani cut the deficit to 11-10 with a wraparound goal. Her initial shot was saved, but she jammed a rebound home with just eight seconds left in the quarter,
Melrose started to pull away early in the fourth, stretching its lead to 13-10 with about nine minutes to go, but Lynnfield gamely chipped away at the deficit, three times getting the deficit down to one, the final goal coming on a Damiani free-position shot that made it 15-14 with 2:39 to go, and had several good scoring chances near the end of the game but could not come up with the equalizer. Melrose sealed the win with an insurance goal with less than a minute to go.
“We created a lot of opportunities in the game and I think that shows that our girls have gotten better every game,” Serra said.
Hayden Valiton had a monster game with six goals, six draw controls, two ground balls and a caused turnover. Damiani had five goals and Taylor Valiton had three goals, one assist and nine draw controls. Clara Caulfield (6 draws, 3 ground balls), Mastrangelo (2 assists, ground ball), Hannah Ozanian (2 ground balls, caused turnover) and Kayla Santo (2 ground balls, draw) had good all-around games.
“Today, everybody played well and contributed a different part,” Serra said. “We had Clara Caulfield and Hannah Ozanian who just hustled so much. Jordan Calichman, too, everybody just played their part. Taylor did awesome on the draw, so did Hayden. Everybody did something great. Our defense also did a great job. I am so proud of all of them. This was a good team we played and knowing we stayed right with them and even had that four-goal lead is a great sign that good things are coming.”
Serra said a key part of the process has been scheduling as many non-league games as possible against top teams, like Melrose and Winchester. She said she expects the team is ready to go further than it did last year in the tournament.
“We had a home game last year, but didn’t make it to the second round, so the goal is to go at least one step further,” she said. “The goal is now to make it a little further in the tournament. Every year, we have a new goal and the girls are doing a great job with that. I could not be happier with the team this year. We’ve closed gaps in scores against teams we’ve had such a hard time with in the past. We’ve beaten teams we’ve never before beaten and we had leads against Newburyport, Winchester and today, Melrose, so the girls have done such a great job and I am hopeful they will continue to do that in the tournament.”
Lynnfield 20
Essex Tech 9
At home on May 22, the Pioneers routed the Hawks, thanks in large part to Taylor Valiton. She notched the 200th point of her varsity career and finished with a game-high seven goals with one assist. Hayden Valiton also had a productive day, finishing with six goals and two assists. Mastrangelo had a solid all-around game with three goals and two assists and Damiani also had a five-point day with four goals and an assist. Jordan Calichman also scored and notched two assists.
