Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but not when it comes to girls lacrosse – and certainly not against a hot goalie.
The Lynnfield Pioneers dominated possession in their season-opener against visiting Bishop Fenwick Thursday (March 27) afternoon, but Fenwick goalie Courtney McKenzie (9 saves) put on a show, giving the usually high-flying Pioneers’ offense fits en route to a 6-4 Fenwick win.
Lynnfield Coach Christina Serra said the difference in the game was McKenzie.
“Their goalie was great,” she said. “We definitely had a lot of shots, but unfortunately, most of them didn’t go in. We have a great team, but we have a brand new goalie who has never played before, so I think we did really well not letting them get a lot of shots off and giving up just six goals.”
“(McKenzie) is unreal,” said Fenwick Coach Jill Robinson. “She’s been working really hard in the offseason. She’s been our starter for four years and she has that real mental toughness and always has her defense’s back. Lynnfield is a really good team. I think they had possession of the ball for 75 percent of the game, so our zone was hanging in there. But as soon as they broke the zone, Courtney saved us. She was definitely our Player of the Game.”
The Pioneers wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 1-0 lead on senior Chloe Gromko’s goal a little more than three minutes in. Fenwick’s senior captain, Hannah Bettencourt (2 goals), answered back about two minutes later to knot the game, 1-1.
With 3:52 to go in the quarter, senior captain Taylor Valiton put the Pioneers back on top, 2-1.
Fenwick came out on the attack to start the second quarter. Breanna Genzale needed just 22 seconds to tie the game, 2-2. Truth be told, Lynnfield dominated pace and possession in the quarter, holding Fenwick to only three trips into the offensive zone.
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the Crusaders made the most of those trips, converting all three of their second-period shots. Five minutes after Genzale’s (2 goals) goal, a Bettencourt strike gave Fenwick its first lead of the day, 3-2. With less than a minute left in the half, Genzale doubled the score to 4-2.
Lynnfield cut the deficit to 4-3 midway through the third quarter on a goal by sophomore Hayden Valiton. She struck again in the first minute of the fourth quarter to tie the game, 4-4, converting a free-position shot from the 8-yard line at the 11:25 mark.
The Crusaders took the lead for good, 5-4, four minutes later when Molly Sullivan converted a free-position shot from the 10-yard line. Lynnfield had several quality chances in the final five minutes – the best one coming with about 3:45 to go when Ava Damiani found Taylor Valiton alone in front. Valiton blasted a shot from point-blank range, only to be robbed by McKenzie.
That was all the Crusaders needed. They took the ball the other way on the counterattack, following which senior captain Kiley Bloom sealed the win with an insurance goal with about two minutes to play.
Robinson singled out Sullivan and sophomore Cori McMeniman for their strong play.
“Molly takes the draws and works so hard at both ends of the field and we have our backer, Cori McMeniman, who is a super strong defender,” Robinson said. “She’s so quick and so strong and really protected us today.”
Serra had kudos for Hayden Valiton and freshman Grace Allen.
“Hayden did well in the draw circle and won most of the draws,” Serra said. “Overall, I think our girls did really well. They hustled to the ground balls. Freshman Grace Allen did a nice job on defense today. Our defense did a great job communicating and our offense was awesome, too. We just couldn’t score.”
The Pioneers finished 9-11 and were the No. 13 seed in the Division 4 state tournament. After a preliminary round bye, the Pioneers defeated No. 20 North Reading 16-12 in the round of 32. Their ride ended with a 17-10 loss to No. 4 Ipswich, which went on to lose to Cohasset in the finals.
Serra said she believes that while this year’s offense is “pretty strong,” the defense is also rock solid. She said the ultimate goal of the 2025 season is to make a deeper run in the tournament.
“We have a good balance so I think we are going to have a successful season,” Serra said. “We’d like to make it at least one more game.”
Lynnfield’s next game is Friday against Watertown at Fillipello Park with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
