LYNNFIELD — When is a tie just as good as a win?
When you’re an injury-depleted Marblehead girls soccer team in enemy territory taking on a Lynnfield team that hadn’t lost a game since Sept. 16 and was attempting to extend its 12-game unbeaten streak.
In a 1-1 final between the Pioneers and Magicians Saturday morning, let’s just say there was a lot of drama.
With the game tied in the waning seconds of regulation, the Pioneers were on the attack. Junior striker Ava Damiani, who already had one score under her belt, fired a rocket from point-blank range, only to be denied by Magicians’ sophomore goalie Lily Heller (9 saves), who made the save of the game, leaping high off her line to grab the ball. The ball popped out of her hands just inches from crossing the goal line, but was covered up safely at the buzzer.
Ironically, Heller had come in off the bench in the first half to replace junior starter Hailey Gilmore (5 saves), who was injured in a collision with Damiani and had to exit the game.
“We have two strong goalies, but Lily just literally saved the game for us,” said Marblehead coach Lisa Wales. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team today. We were down four or five starters due to injury, so we had some people come off our bench and play out of their minds.
“Lynnfield is an intense, physical team. They are having a great season, so for us being that injured to have a 1-1 tie with them, I feel like that was a win.”
Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont was impressed with Heller as well.
“That was their backup goalie and she did a really, really great job,” he said. “Marblehead was the most physical team we’ve played, but I liked that we came out really strong in the second half. We tried to beat them out wide and we did. We had some opportunities, but just didn’t finish them.”
Both teams had chances in the first half, but neither broke through.
Lynnfield came out flying in the second half. Its efforts paid off about seven minutes in when some fancy footwork on the part of Damiani created an opening. She made the most of it, drilling a shot past Heller to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. The goal was set up by a throw-in from junior Kaylee Barrett, who also set up several chances with crossed balls into the box.
Marblehead’s best chance came seven minutes later off the foot of sophomore Lucy McDonald, who blasted a shot that just missed high. About a minute later, senior captain Sadie Halpern broke past a Lynnfield defender at the 25-yard line and launched a shot off the crossbar that bounced back into the net to make it a 1-1 game.
The goal energized the Magicians, who had several chances generated by McDonald, Halpern and senior Nora Mahan over the next 10 minutes, only to be denied by Lynnfield’s defense and goalie Victoria Minor.
“She (Minor) didn’t have a lot of saves, but she cleaned up a lot,” Vermont said. “She did a nice job coming off her line today.”
Nobody was happier than Heller when the whistle blew to end the game.
“I was so relieved, just thinking that my team had worked so hard and I needed to make sure we had at least a tie – especially because Sadie got her goal,” Heller said. “I was totally happy and relieved that we got that tie.”
Wales highlighted the strong play of McDonald, senior Isabel Mortensen, freshmen Izzy Gonzalez and Nina Badzak (up from JV), Mahan, Halpern, and junior Cam O’Brien.
“They were all terrific today, but, really, everybody played really well. I just want to highlight the whole team,” she said. “But for Sadie to come back from an ACL tear and be on limited minutes, to have that goal today was incredible.”
Vermont said senior Hannah Ozanian and freshman Bella Clancy played well on the wings and juniors Sofia Giardina, Adriana Regitano, and Jordan Calichman, as well as sophomore Abby Tsatskis played well defensively. Midfielders Ella Pascucci, a freshman, and juniors Hannah Doherty and Giada Antidormi were also solid.
“The defense and the midfield played really well,” Vermont said.
