LYNNFIELD — Staring a 3-0 deficit dead in the face, the No. 7 Hampshire Regional boys soccer team had two options as it gathered under its goal for a halftime speech. The Raiders could either mail it in against No. 2 Lynnfield, or they could buckle up and put forth their best 40 minutes of soccer of the season with it on the line in the MIAA Division 4 quarterfinals.

Right out of the gate in the second half, it was evident Hampshire chose the latter.

The visitors dominated the entire frame, putting shot after shot toward Lynnfield goalie Kelan Cardinal and at the very least threatening to score nearly every time they had it in their attacking third.

Although the Raiders clawed their way back to within one, they couldn’t find the equalizer despite several opportunities in the final minutes. Hampshire ultimately fell 3-2 to Lynnfield on Thursday evening, its second straight one-goal loss to the Pioneers to end its season after losing to them in the Div. 4 Final Four in 2023.

“Unfortunately we spotted them too many goals,” Raiders head coach Brad Miller said. “I asked the guys at halftime what they had to dig into, and how hard they could work. They did exactly what we asked them to and exactly what they said they were gonna do. We knew if we scored that first goal that it would feed us momentum to help get a second one, and if we scored a second goal, we knew it would make things real interesting. And it did.”

After consistently swarming Lynnfield’s back line for the first 20 minutes of the second half, Hampshire finally broke through with just under 17 minutes remaining to get on the score board. A timely run from Colin Cahill freed him up on the right side of the box, and instead of forcing a bad-angle shot on goal – which he had the window to do – Cahill fired a low pass to the middle where Elijah Picard found open space.

Picard then one-touched a perfect pass to the left to a wide-open Joe Moro who tapped in the goal – capping off a beautiful tic-tac-toe tally that made the score 3-1.

Just over 10 minutes later, the Raiders sent in a corner kick that deflected off a few heads and fell directly at the feet of Hampshire senior Brendan Stevenson. With nobody between him and Cardinal, Stevenson quickly blasted a shot by the Lynnfield keeper to cut the Raiders deficit in just one.

The Raiders did have a couple of decent chances to put a third goal in, but their best one wasn’t given to them. What appeared to be a Lynnfield hand ball just three yards outside of the box was never called. That would’ve put Hampshire star Owen Miller on the ball for a free kick – and he’s scored from that position in every Hampshire state tournament game this season.

“We didn’t get a few breaks that I thought could’ve gone our way, but some things didn’t get called,” Brad Miller said. “But that’s what happens in the game of soccer. It’s a tough one to take, because the level of effort the guys put in during the second half was worthy of tying up the game.”

Missed calls or not, Miller understands the Raiders made it tougher on themselves than they had to by starting in a 3-0 hole. Not even 10 minutes into the first half, a penalty was awarded to Lynnfield after a foul in the box. Dillon Reilly stepped up and buried the PK, setting the tone for the Pioneers.

Not even two minutes later, the hosts added another. Lynnfield’s Matt Reinold split two Hampshire defenders before sending a low cross into the middle that Joel Anthony got a foot on, redirecting it past Raiders goalie Colin Holt. The Pioneers’ third goal came on a very similar play, with Reinold again maneuvering around a pair of Hampshire players to send another ground ball through the box. This time Rocco Scenna was on the receiving end to put Lynnfield well in control in the final minute of the half.

Overcoming a two-goal deficit felt doable for Miller and Co., but a third tally right before the official was about to signal for halftime was a gut punch.

Still, Hampshire found a way to make a game out of it.

“A soft PK to set the tone was tough, but I think we were a little shell-shocked,” Miller said. “We were chasing a little bit and kind of got out of sorts, but I think our lack of desire for the ball and intensity was evident early. But in the second half we brought those two things and it was even more evident. That third goal was devastating at the end of the half. A 2-0 game, I feel like we had a good chance to be fine. But 3-0 made it a lot harder for us to push. We did it, though, we just didn’t get that third goal.”

Lynnfield, the reigning state champions, will play the winner of No. 6 Tyngsborough and No. 14 Frontier in the Final Four. Hampshire finished its season 10-4-7, and says goodbye to seniors Evan Moulton, Brendan Stevenson, Jack Wresen, Elijah Picard and Colin Holt – all of whom Miller praised for their hard work and dedication to the Raiders’ program.