FRANKLIN — A single goal hasn’t been enough to beat Franklin all season.
And that stayed true for the sixth-seeded Panthers on Monday despite falling into an early hole against No. 11 Lincoln-Sudbury in a Division 1 second-round matchup.
Franklin, which has scored at least two goals in every game this season, rallied back and a second-half goal off a sensational individual effort from sophomore Lily Strong proved to be the difference to lift the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Warriors at Pisini Stadium.
“We go into every game with the mindset of we don’t need to get a shut out to win, we just need to score more goals than the other team,” Franklin head coach Jodi Klein said. “I didn’t think we were going to get more than a couple against this team, and luckily that’s all we needed.”
Franklin (13-5-2) advances to the state quarterfinals against No. 14 Hopkinton, which defeated the Panthers in that round two seasons ago.
The Panthers’ season appeared to be in trouble with L-S (14-5-2) opening the scoring in the 8th minute when Ciara Morrissey got behind the Franklin defense and finished her chance from the right wing.
Battling heavy downpours in the first half, Franklin found the equalizer in the 28th minute when Morgan Lovell dished off a pass to Gwen Holland, who unleashed a long-range shot under the crossbar.
“When I shot that shot, I was like, … ‘We need to take all we can one down,’” Holland said. “We’ve come back before, so we knew we were able to do that.”
Franklin seized momentum with Holland’s tally and took control just 3:48 into the second half with Strong’s goal.
Strong made a terrific, long run down the left sideline with the ball and a defender battling her, and maintained possession long enough to tuck her close-range shot into the far post to give the Panthers the lead.
“This is the best game she has had all season,” Klein said. “We’ve been doing a lot of striker-focused activities at practice just because she gets doubled and tripled teamed so much, trying to get her to get free so she can get the ball. She put on a show.”
Franklin’s defense, which was spearheaded by Cassidy Carmignani and goalie Cami Towers (four saves), swallowed up the L-S attack over the final 40 minutes to preserve the lead.
It was the first time Franklin won by a single goal since its season opener.
“I’ve been waiting for a full 80 minutes of their best soccer, and that’s what they just did,” Klein said.
