FRANKLIN, Mass. – After outscoring opponents 279-44 during the regular season, Franklin was used to running away with games, scoring early and often, and being largely untroubled as the clock was rapidly winding down. Things are a little tougher when the playoffs roll around.
The Panthers were reminded of how hard it is to close out a state tournament game when Acton-Boxboro made things interesting with a fourth quarter comeback in the first round.
It was a lesson well learned, as Franklin showed much better control of the ball throughout Wednesday afternoon’s Div. 1 East semifinal with rival Lincoln-Sudbury at Pisini Stadium, pulling out a 10-7 win and booking a spot in the sectional final.
“We watched that on film and watched our impatience and our poor decision-making and I was kind of tough with them on that, even though we won, so they could learn for this game,” Franklin coach Kristin Igoe Guarino said about her team learning from the previous round.
“They learned so much in one day. I thought we dominated possession, made good decisions. A lot of credit to my sophomores, who it’s their first year playing and they were able to pick that up.”
Franklin demonstrated its willingness to work for the best shot right from the opening draw. After forcing a turnover, Franklin started to work the ball around, making sure everyone had a touch, and forcing the L-S defense to move from side to side.
It took almost five minutes, but that ball and player movement paid off with the opening goal. Katie Peterson picked out a cutting Kaitlyn Carney in the middle of the defense and the sophomore bounced a shot up under the bar to make it 1-0.
Two minutes later, it was Stella Regan that provided the assist from behind the goal to Carney sitting out in front for a quick finish. Less than a minute later and it was Carney free again in the middle, taking a pass from Peterson, twisting her body to get square to goal, and completing her hat trick for a 3-0 lead.
It could’ve been four, but Katie Jones saw her point-blank effort denied by L-S goalie Catrina Tobin (six saves).
Franklin’s offense can be patient because any one of the seven players up front can provide the finish. Kenzie Baker got into the act with a dodge from the right side and a lefty finish that made it 4-0 in the second quarter. After Katherine Wolin got one back from an eight-meter shot, Peterson fed Jones for a sidearm finish and a 5-1 edge.
“It doesn’t matter what middie line, we have four attackers that play and then we have kids who can come off the bench and play too,” Jones explained. “We’re seven people who trust each other and play for each other and it’s definitely something that separates us from other teams.”
Carney added her fourth of the game with a high finish on a cut from the left. L-S star Sophia Brindisi, who was denied twice in the second on good saves by Franklin goalie Brigid Earley (four saves), finally got on the board with a bounced finish, but the Panthers answered back in the closing seconds of the half when Regan’s pass to Carney took a deflection and wrong-footed the goalie.
“Any seven who are in are threats, whether it’s feeding, scoring, and that balance has helped us so much,” Igoe Guarino said. “We’re not relying on one or two people who can be shut down. I thought the L-S back row was excellent and they really forced us to use all our weapons.”
Leading 7-2 at the break, Igoe Guarino emphasized that the Panthers still had 25 minutes of work to do before they could start thinking about the final. It was good advice considering the history of epic games with L-S that always seem to go right down to the final whistle.
The Warriors were down but certainly not out and put together a comeback in the third. Tobin started the quarter by saving a Baker free position effort, giving her teammates a little boost of energy. Brindisi scored a free position goal and then circled all the way around the goal before finding the back of the net with a sidearm shot. Two goals in 39 seconds cut the Franklin lead to just three.
Kate O’Rourke had a good look from an angle but Tobin kicked it aside and Carney tried to add another goal but it was stopped by a combination of defenders and the L-S goalie. The Warriors got one more in the final second of the third, as Wolin assisted on Nicola Donlan’s strike to make it 7-5 heading to the final quarter.
With an early free position goal, Baker restored a little momentum to the home side, although Brindisi wasted little time responding with her fourth goal of the night to make it 8-6. Two minutes later, O’Rourke found Jamie Tanner open on the far side and she went with a low-angle shot through the five-hole.
Tobin and Earley traded big saves to keep it a three-goal game with time starting to wind down. Wolin was able to score a free position goal with 2:08 to play. L-S won the ensuing draw and had a chance to get back within one. The Franklin defense came through with a big turnover, Tanner getting in the mix to scoop the crucial ground ball.
“Jamie Tanner is an animal,” said Igoe Guarino. “She does whatever you ask and she’s not super-flashy, but ground balls, draws, face-guarding, any little, gritty role she will do and she’ll put 100 percent of herself into it. She was clutch today for sure.”
The Panthers were able to use up the final 1:49 off the clock and Baker completed her hat trick, firing into the empty net as the horn sounded.
Franklin (16-0) will now host No. 7 seed Concord-Carlisle on Friday afternoon in the D1 East final. This will be the fourth straight season that the teams have met in the playoffs, with the Patriots knocking Franklin out at the semifinal round each of the last two years and the Panthers beating C-C in the East final in 2017.
Jones saw action against Concord-Carlisle as a freshman, but a knee injury limited her to a cameo appearance in the 2019 semifinal. Now, as a senior, she is relishing the chance to be back out on the field at least one more time.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” she said. “I think it’s a little bit of a revenge game but I think we’re all just excited and we’re really grateful to be out here. I mean, after you lose a season, and I lost two with an ACL, you don’t take anything for granted.”
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