LYNN — On an unseasonably mild Sunday afternoon at Lynn's Manning Bowl, a Georgetown Royals performance seemingly carried over and into the field's beautiful backdrop, as their 5-0 Division 3 North title-clinching win over Greater Lowell was highlighted by a gorgeous sunset in which the sky appeared as if it had been set ablaze.
It is believed that this Royals Division 3 North crown is the first in program history. The 2009 girls soccer team also joins both last spring's Royal baseball team and last winter's Royal girls basketball team, as recent North sectional champions in their respective sports.
The potent Royal offense was on full display again against Greater Lowell as the team's five goals brought its total to 14 in the last two games on turf — both played in the Manning Bowl.
Nicoline Holland was the biggest beneficiary of the gorgeous combination passing, as the sophomore scored three first half goals and nearly had two more, only to be thwarted by the Gryphons' terrific keeper, Amanda Pang, on both occasions.
"I think my teammates kind of set (the goals) up," Holland praised. "When they got the ball in the corner, they crossed it, and I just happened to be there. We followed the ball really well today."
Attacking down the right side of the field much of the game, the Royals right outside midfielder, Nicole DiMaio, was able to time and again beat her defender, Rebecca Morrill, and send in terrific crosses. Two of the first three goals came on crosses from the right side by Emma Cannon and DiMaio, and the third was on a corner on the right side of the field by Ashley Mueskes.
"(DiMaio's) just been doing an excellent job outside running the balls down, shielding them off, and she's just serving great balls and we're ready for it," Georgetown coach Colleen Gibbs said. "We missed a couple of head balls on those, but for the most part (we) did an excellent job."
"I think something that makes us good as a team is we can kind of find where the weak points are, and be able to exploit them," said Cannon of the Royals ability to freely attack down the right side. "We find space and find out who we can beat and we have the confidence to be able to take on that girl. I think Nicole (DiMaio) did an excellent job of coming down the sidelines and getting those crosses off. She's a great player."
Casey Decareau gave Georgetown a 4-0 lead half way through the second half after a cross by Jamie Block — who came out of goal after halftime for the fourth straight game. Then Cannon, in a moment of brilliance, beat four defenders on the right side of the field again, merged into the box and passed the ball into the far left netting to put an exclamation point on a superlative performance.
Nearly lost in the goal-scoring barrage was the play of the Royal defense, which only allowed Georgetown keepers to touch the ball three times the entire game.
"Our defense is amazing," Cannon praised. "Maddy Duncan at sweeper is amazing; she's lightning, she's a track star, she's really fast, and she's got good ball skills. Kelly Chickering, Olivia Putnam and Rachel Sherman at wings are really strong. Really it's a good trust system going on back there."
Clearly the Royals were the best team in their North bracket this year as they outscored their opponents 24-4 en route to the title.
"It's so exciting, I don't even remember the last time we won it," said Holland, brimming from ear to ear with a big smile. "Someone said 1980. But everyone's real excited, and hopefully we can keep moving on."
Georgetown (17-4-1) will face the winner of the South final between Millis (13-2-6) and West Bridgewater (18-3-0) at date, time and location to be announced.
