Double-Overtime Victory Moves Lions Girls Soccer To Next Round

After a heart-pounding double overtime and a last-second goal, the Chelmsford High Lions bounced the seventh-seeded Newton North Tigers from the Div. 1 North Sectional tournament last night. The final score was 4-3.


The Tigers end their season at 14-4-2 while the Lions improve to 13-5-3 and move on to the semifinals where they will play No. 14 North Andover (12-4-4).

“Dizzy,” Lions coach Anne Marinaro said she felt after the game. “I’m so proud of these girls. They haven’t made the state tournament in six years. We’ve played the top teams. We had a double-overtime p[enalty] k[ick] with Lincoln-Sudbury, who is number two. And then to do this against a team like Newton North. They’re a perennial powerhouse. These girls have worked incredibly hard.”

Chelmsford began the scoring four minutes into the contest capitalizing on the Newton North’s Achilles’ heel: the free kick. Emily Majeski sent the ball towards net, where Rachel Hanna managed a shot. Tiger goalie Maddie Bledsoe made the save, but allowed a rebound, which Michelle Materna collected and put home.

But the Tigers responded with an equalizer six minutes later. Bledsoe booted a ball from the box to midfield, where Holly Szafran headed it leading to a Shannon Fitzgerald breakaway tally. Szafran would then notch back-to-back goals to give Newton North the 3-1 advantage going into the break.

An energized Lions team emerged in the second half, relentlessly pressuring the Tigers. That paid off in two tallies from Jill Emerson, the last arriving with just six minutes remaining in the affair. Chelmsford would punch its ticket into the next round when senior captain Abby Johnson ripped a shot top left corner with the clock set to expire in double overtime.