RallyNorth.net

Still Rolling

The Division 3 North Semifinals hung in the balance inside of nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

No. 7 Pentucket scored the final two goals to escape with a 9-7 win over No. 6 Manchester Essex.

The victory sends Pentucket (13-6) to the sectional final against No. 1 Ipswich, which beat Newburyport 16-10 to improve to 17-1. 

It's a rematch of last year's final, won by the Tigers, who also beat Pentucket 15-8 this spring.

Date, site and time are TBA for the North finals.

Manchester Essex finishes up the season at 15-8.

The Sachems took a 6-3 lead into the break, but Manchester Essex played itself back into the game with a strong third frame.

M-E tied it at 7-7 with 11:22 to go. 

Chris Muollo notched what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 8:15 to go and Nick Arcadipane scored his third of the afternoon to extend the lead to 9-7 with 4:42 to play.

“We knew up three at the half that it wasn’t even close to over,” Sachems coach Dan Leary said. “But we have experience in these close games and it helped us a lot down the stretch.”

Manchester Essex had chances in the final four minutes, but the Sachems defense, led by Jordan Sheehy, finished strong.

Pentucket raced out to an early lead with three goals in the first two minutes from Ben Gardner, Arcadiapane and Brandon Barlow.