The No. 6 Lynnfield field hockey team opened up its state tournament run with a commanding 4-0 win over No. 27 Joseph Case Monday afternoon. Despite the four-goal win at Pioneer Stadium, it was a close match in the first half. That was before the Pioneers turned up the pressure in the second half.
Lynnfield found a goal early, thanks to a Taylor Valiton with 8:29 remaining in the first quarter. The strike was assisted by Lauren Mattia.
The Pioneers held their 1-0 lead going into the second half. Despite controlling most of the possession time, they couldn’t find any insurance goals.
That was, until Lynnfield delivered, frankly, a remarkable team goal in the third quarter.
Four minutes into the quarter, Valiton got the ball out on the wing and carried it 20 yards before finding junior Cameron Munion in the middle. Munion, without hesitation, passed it to Izzy Fiorentino who made no mistake in front of the goal, striking it into the mesh for a 2-0 lead.
“We’ve been working on our backfield transfers in practice. That’s the hockey we want to be executing. That switch of fields really shifts the defense, which creates those opportunities. It really was a beautiful play,” said first-year Lynnfield coach Kerri Doherty. “You practice like you play and that paid off today.”
When it comes to having trust in her teammates and knowing where everyone will be on the field, Valiton said it makes things a lot easier.
“I think we worked together really well and had great teamwork. We trust each other a lot and we knew where everyone was on the field. We took advantage of that today,” Valiton said.
For Gia Marotta, she believed the hard work put in over the last week of practice had the Pioneers ready.
In the second half, they showed it.
“We’ve been working really hard for this. We had a whole week off, basically, with just a scrimmage and a bunch of practices. I think everything we’ve been working on showed in this game,” Marotta said. “We scored four goals and all of them came from good passing and rebounds. It was great teamwork.”
With a 2-0 lead in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers continued to pressure the opposition. Marotta was first to react on a rebound and her shot looped over the goalie for Lynnfield’s third goal.
“I was hoping, at one point, I would get a goal. I recognized that a lot of the rebounds were coming out straight and I just had to prepare myself in case it fell to me. I’ve been working on the one-touch shooting in practice off corners,” Marotta said. “I was ready for it today.”
When asked what the difference was between the first and second halves, Pioneers’ goalie Lauren MacDonald talked about the team realizing it couldn’t allow Joseph Case back in the game.
“We realized it was such a close game and we couldn’t really allow that to be the case,” MacDonald said. “We locked back in and got the goals we needed.”
The fourth and final goal came from speedster Mattia, who was utilizing her speed on both ends of the field – whether it was creating offensive transitions, or stopping counterattacks.
When the ball went out of play, Marotta quickly played it into Mattia. From there, Mattia raced past a defender before hitting a rocket of a shot past the goalie for Lynnfield’s fourth goal.
“I was really happy that she got that goal. She controls a lot of the pace in games. I have to remind her, too, that she can slow it down and then go again,” Doherty said. “Her game is coming along really well. She made the top club team as well and has been playing great for us. I can’t talk highly enough of her.”
After the goal, Joseph Case had a few chances to score, but MacDonald kept them out.
“It helps with everyone’s confidence, especially mine,” MacDonald said of the shutout. “It helps us to stay positive. When someone scores on us, it kind of deflates us a little bit. It helps us to keep a positive mindset.”
The Pioneers look to keep their momentum intact on Wednesday when they host No. 22 Saint Paul Diocesan at 2 p.m.
Doherty said she’s not looking at the rankings. That’s because, at this point, every opponent wants it.
“I went to the Saint Paul game when they faced Maynard on Friday when we had a day off. Maynard was the No. 11 seed and Saint Paul was the 22nd seed. It’s tournament time and you can’t underestimate anyone,” Doherty said. “I think it will be a good matchup. I think it’ll be a similar game to today, from what I saw.”
