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Pentucket 2, Lynnfield 0

WEST NEWBURY - Wrapped in shadows around tiny Pentucket Stadium and immersed in a scoring slump that saw the Sachems get shut out in four of their last five games, the home side team knocked home two pretty, second-half goals to beat perennial CAL Small powerhouse Lynnfield, 2-0.

In the race to stay at or above the magical .500 winning percentage for state tournament eligibility, the win was an especially important one for the Sachems, who moved back to even ground with both Central Catholic and Masconomet looming in the near future.

The first half saw Pentucket back on its heels for quite a bit as the Pioneers came forward with numbers and were truth be told unfortunate not to score at least one goal, hitting the crossbar on one shot and the post on another. However, despite not being able to maintain possession or general footing for much of the half, Jake Buzzell almost put the team on board hitting the post.

"A lot of the first half was played in our end, and when our guys came off the field at half time I said to them we were lucky not to give up a goal," Pentucket coach Christian Langlois said. "That end of the field was horrible, you would go to stop then slip and a guy would go right by you, which accounted for a lot of their opportunities."

Clearly though the far end of the field - where the Sachems played defense in the first half and attacked in the second -was the offensive end of the field. Starting slowly Pentucket began to connect passes and create chances. Then like clockwork after some fantastic build-up on the right side Pentucket struck.

Laying the ball off, Brian Clevesy's pass found the feet of Jon Ferrara, who made a brilliant chip over the Lynnfield sweeper's head into space giving Buzzell a chance to run onto the ball. The slick forward beat his defender, made one touch around the goalie and tucked the ball home.

Then in the 56th minute, Pentucket capitalized on an opportunistic play, something the team had struggled to do in previous games. Putting pressure on the Lynnfield back line, the Pioneers left defender slipped and lost the ball on the Sachem's right side of the field. Buzzell, who was in position to put pressure on the defender, took possession made two dribbles and sent a tantalizingly curving cross to the far post, which Josh Croteau volleyed home for his first varsity goal.

"Jake was amazing, he had the finish on the first goal and the assist on the second," Langlois lauded. "When he put that ball in the air I knew exactly where it was going, then I said out loud, 'whose on the far post,' because I was worried there might not be anybody there. But, Josh was right there, right were he was supposed to be as an outside mid, and it was perfect."

"I saw him (Croteau) screaming at me and I just delivered the ball," said Buzzell of the assist that put the game away. "We knew we had to win because we were under .500 and we lost a few games we could have won, so we were really pushing to get some goals in."

Also crucial to the Pentucket win was the play of defenders Brian Cormier, Sean Milley, and Chris Medeiros, who slammed the door shut on Lynnfield not allowing a single good shot on goal in the second half.

Additional stories:

• Buzzell, Madeiros key in Sachems win