Girls soccer: Franklin Tech tallies three first-half goals to knock off Pioneer, 5-2 (PHOTOS)

NORTHFIELD — It didn’t take the Franklin Tech girls soccer team long to find a rhythm on offense Monday against Pioneer. 

The Eagles put the pressure on the Panthers early, netting two goals during the opening 10 minutes of action to take a 2-0 lead. 

Tech added a third goal before the halftime whistle was blown and tacked two goals on during the second half to walk away with a 5-2 Bi-County League road victory. 

“It was good to get out to the fast start,” Tech’s Ella Kolodziej said. “It felt a lot more reassuring after they scored and we were still able to get another goal after.”

Taking on one of the top teams in the league over the past week, Pioneer coach Matt Killeen said he was impressed with how his young team has competed. 

“Franklin Tech and Athol are the class of our league right now,” Killeen said. “They have some upperclassmen with some incredible skills. Both games we’ve played against them they’ve hit free kicks from outside 30 yards. It’s not unexpected.”

Franklin Tech (5-1) took the lead eight minutes in after Anne Kolodziej sent a ball through to Kyra Goodell, who raced up the left wing and blasted a shot home to give the Eagles the early lead. 

Tech tallied a second goal one minute later, as Goodell found Anne Kolodziej this time, and she knocked the shot into the back of the net to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. 

It didn’t take long for Pioneer (3-3) to get on the scoreboard. One minute after Kolodziej’s tally, Hailey Ring used her speed to get by her defender down the left wing, and sent a cross in that made it over a trio of Eagle defenders and went right to Maddie Keefe on the other side of the box. Keefe was able to bury the shot into the near empty goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. 

The rapid scoring to open the game didn’t stop there. Following an injury stoppage in the 15th minute, the Eagles were granted a free kick from about 35 yards out on the left side of the goal. 

Mady Lynde tapped the ball to Ella Kolodziej, who proceeded to rocket the indirect free kick just under the crossbar and into the goal, giving Tech a 3-1 lead. 

“I’ve had good luck with them this season,” Ella Kolodziej said of free kick situations. “[Franklin Tech coach Jason Butynski] told Mady to go kick it so I could try to make it in. It just worked.”

After a breakneck pace offensively to open the game, both defenses settled in from that point on and didn’t allow another goal for the remainder of the half. 

It was Franklin Tech’s Sofia Moreno who opened the scoring in the second half, doing so on a penalty kick. The PK was drawn at the 45 minute mark following a handball in the box and Moreno roofed the attempt into the top left corner of the goal, giving the Eagles a 4-1 lead. 

Anne Kolodziej closed out the Franklin Tech scoring in the 57th minute. Her sister, Ella Kolodziej, passed the ball to her directly outside the box, where Anne Kolodziej dribbled her way through a trio of Panthers before lofting a shot into goal to give the Eagles a 5-1 advantage. 

“I didn’t think I’d make the second one in,” Anne Kolodziej said. “All I saw was legs. I managed to get past them. I still need to work on my shooting. The first one I wasn’t marked as much which was easy.”

Pioneer got a second goal before the final whistle sounded, and it looked eerily similar to the first goal it tallied. 

Turns out, it was a play the Panthers had been working on. Ring once again used her speed to beat the defense down the left wing and drove a cross through the box that managed to miss multiple Tech defenders and make it onto the foot of Mya Laprade. She knocked it into the goal to cut the lead to 5-2. 

“Maddie scored a great one,” Killeen said of the team’s first goal. “Both [goals] happened on the same play. Credit to Hailey. She has the speed to get down the wing and she was hitting ground crosses through. Both were scored off that left wing and put in on the far post. That’s what we were trying to do so it was nice to see it come together. Watching Mya put one in was great.”

Kylee Gamache made 11 saves in the win while Kyler McClelland stopped 19 shots in goal for the Panthers. 

Next up for the Eagles is a showdown Wednesday night against Athol (6-0), the lone team to defeat Tech this season and a game that will go a long way to determining the Bi-County League title. 

“This is the best season we’ve had,” Anne Kolodziej said. “We’re hoping to keep the momentum going against Athol. They’re our only loss so we want to be their first loss this season. Our dribbling is good. We’ve been making good runs and making good passes. We’ve had some great additions to the team. We just need to connect a little better. If we can keep connecting then good things will happen.” 

For Killeen and the Panthers, they’re back in action on Wednesday when they host Smith Academy. The Pioneer coach said he hopes his young team paid attention to what the Eagles were able to do on Monday, saying that when they’re older, they’ll be able to make similar plays in games. 

“It gives the middle schoolers a look at what it’ll be like when they’re juniors and seniors,” Killeen said. “I’m really proud of them. They’re putting a lot of things together. When they’re more experienced, older and strong they’ll look like that.”