Published November 20, 2019

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

LYNN — Even after his team was defeated 3-1 by top-seeded Bedford on Saturday at Lynn’s Manning Field, Lynnfield boys’ soccer head coach Brent Munroe had a clear sense of pride. 

“Sometimes you just go down to a better team and that’s what happened today,” said Monroe, who admired Bedford’s depth among other things. 

The Buccaneers (17-1-1) were talented, organized and smart on all levels of the field. 

The Pioneers (10-7-5) fought valiantly, working their way back into the Div. 3 North final after going down 2-0 in the first half, but ultimately weren’t able to keep up in the second. 

Yet, it didn’t feel quite the same as last year’s 3-1 loss in the same game against Wayland. That Lynnfield team shocked nobody in making it to the big stage. This team shocked everybody.

“We lost eight games in our league this year,” said Munroe of his team’s less-than-sterling regular season. The Pioneers started 0-2, and though they righted the ship in late September and early October, Lynnfield never really took off as they finished fifth out of six teams in the CAL Kinney Division behind Masco, Pentucket, Newburyport and North Reading. Lynnfield made it farther in the tournament than any of those teams.

CAPTAIN Tommy Buston fought hard until the end against Bedford in the Div. 3 North championship on Saturday. The senior helped lift the Pioneers over Watertown with a goal in the semifinals and will leave a lasting legacy along with classmates Tommy Hauser, Alejandro Lynch, Matt Juliano and Fadi Dhahib. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

“We lost eight games in our league. You get into the tournament and don’t think you’re going to beat some of the best teams around and we did that against Watertown (in the semifinals),” said Munroe. “We got a good draw which helped us move on but I’m shocked we made it this far.”

Part of that run was a team-wide competitiveness that only an underdog can have. In that way, the Pioneers didn’t change against Bedford. Even after the Bucs Ryan Knight made it 1-0 just a minute and 27 seconds into play, Lynnfield buckled up for a fight. Senior Alejandro Lynch stepped up to stop a 2-on-1 soon after and the Pioneers settled the game. 

Bedford’s Jasper Paez made it 2-0 with 23 minutes left in the first half on a gritty run down the left wing complete with a strong left-footed finish. 

Freshman Henry Caulfield created a couple of nice chances for the Pioneers on back-to-back crosses but Lynnfield couldn’t get the numbers in the box to finish against a Buccaneer team who had only allowed four goals all season long coming into Saturday.

With 10:42 left in the half, Munroe called a timeout. 

With the Pioneers doing everything they could to stay in the game, the coach’s message revolved more around how to get to halftime with the score as it was. Bedford was pressuring from multiple angles and getting into halftime down two goals wasn’t a bad place to be. 

Lynnfield did that and more. 

Caulfield got another chance on the right side after the Pioneers switched the field. This time, his cross found junior Matheus Saramento who headed it in for a beautiful goal that got Lynnfield’s fans on their feet.

“It was probably the best goal we scored all year,” said Munroe. “It was one great highlight for us on what ended up just being Bedford’s day.”

Dexter Kennedy made it 3-1 just over minutes into the half on a free kick from right outside the penalty box, his low shot fitting perfectly into the bottom right corner of the net. 

Lynnfield had trouble maintaining possession in the second half and ultimately couldn’t get many chances even as they pushed up late in the game. 

In the end, as coach Munroe said, it was just Bedford’s day.

Lynnfield’s seniors, Lynch, Tommy Buston, Tommy Hauser,  Matt Juliano and Fadi Dhahib deserve plenty of credit for helping a young and largely inexperienced Pioneer team stay focused especially during the ides of the season. They helped create an identity that will live on for years to come – the identity that no matter the difficult results or early-season struggles, Lynnfield soccer is always a tough team to deal with on the biggest of stages.