UPDATED RESULTS: Pioneers defeated Frontier Regional 1-0, but fall to Cohasset 3-2 in the Finals held at Curry College on Saturday, November 23.
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield High boys’ soccer team took another step in trying to defend their Div. 4 state title as they edged guest Hampshire Regional, 3-2, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 3-0 halftime advantage but then had to hold on for dear life as the Raiders, whose school is located in the western part of the state in Westhampton, stormed back.
Nine minutes into the game, Lynnfield was awarded a penalty shot due to a Raider foul in the box. Senior captain Dillon Riley, who was the player fouled, then cashed in on the penalty kick to make it 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, senior Matt Reinold split two Raider defenders before sending a low cross down the middle that senior Joel Anthony redirected past goalie Colin Holt to make it 2-0.
“That was a great play by Matt,” stated Pioneers head coach Brent Munroe. “He has been outstanding for us all tournament.”
The final Lynnfield tally came with under a minute left in the opening stanza as junior Rocco Scenna scored on another assist by Reinold.
Early in the second half, the play was pretty even until the Raiders finally found the back of the Lynnfield net to give them a spark.
They got on the scoreboard in the 23rd minute of the half as Joe Moro scored on a nice feed from Elijah Picard.
Hampshire cut the lead to one 11 minutes later off a corner kick as Brendan Stevenson found the back of the Pioneer net.
The Raiders had a couple of chances late to tie it but the Pioneers were able to hold on.
“When they scored that first goal we lost our edge and they played with a lot more energy,” admitted Munroe. “We had a phenomenal first half but sat back in the second half and they outplayed us the rest of the game.”
Holt made eight saves while Pioneer goalkeeper, senior captain Kelan Cardinal, made six stops.
With the loss, the 7th-seeded Raiders ended the year at 10-4-7.
“They have been one of the top teams in western Mass. the past few years and I give them credit for how they fought back in the second half,” said Munroe.
The 2nd-seeded Pioneers improved to 15-3-3 as they took on Frontier Regional in the state semifinals on Tuesday night at Ayer-Shirley High (results not available at press time).
The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Cohasset-East Boston game in the state championship game. That game will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Curry College in Milton and will start at 10:30 a.m.