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WORCESTER — The road to the Division 3 state finals was a long one for Georgetown in many ways.

Obviously, the 2 1/2-month march toward a shot of being one of the state's three best soccer programs was grueling. But yesterday's trip to Foley Stadium and a date with Sutton High was daunting on its own. Foul traffic in the Lowell area extended the Royals' trip to Worcester into a two-hour grind, and the team looked a little worse the wear for it.

LYNN — With a chance to send Georgetown to the Division 3 state soccer finals, Ben Noelk didn't even have to think about what he was going to do. That's because the Royal sophomore made his plans long before his big moment.

LYNN — Georgetown coach Chris DiFranco’s message to his team was simple last night after his Royals won the Division 3 North title. 

He told his players they are the best team ever in Georgetown boys soccer history. 

LYNN - The Georgetown and Rockport boys soccer teams each unleashed two minutes of offensive fury Thursday at Manning Field. The difference in the EMass Div. 3 North showdown between Cape Ann League rivals, which was played in a steady rain, came down to which team would capitalize on that relentless offensive pressure. Around the 11 minute mark of the second half, the No. 1 seeded Royals began their onslaught on Rockport keeper Eric Littlefield. It ended with midfielder Ryan Browner receiving a Matt Bitchell cross at the right top of the goal box and booming it just below the crossbar to give Georgetown a 1-0 advantage. Rockport’s two-minute drill waited until the 78th and 79th minute as the Vikings nearly got a head on AJ Burnham’s free kick and CJ Burnham’s deflection of a ball nearly found its way over the head of Georgetown goaltender Ben Warren. In the end, however, the Vikings couldn’t capitalize and Georgetown earned a 1-0 victory and a trip to Saturday’s EMass Div. 3 North Finals (3 p.m. at Manning Field in Lynn). “All I can say is, ‘Wow,’” drained Georgetown head coach Chris DiFranco exclaimed. “We knew coming in that this would be a one goal game. It was just a matter of who would score that goal. Ryan (Browner), a five-year varsity player for us, was the one. It was the biggest goal of our season.” The Royals knocked on the door early, getting seven quality looks at the Rockport net in the first half compared to the Vikings’ two. Browner nearly got Georgetown on the board in the first half but his corner kick in the 36th minute was swatted away by a leaping Littlefield. The Vikings best first half scoring opportunity came just a minute earlier when Conor Douglass’ corner kick wound up right in front of the net but there was too much traffic for Rockport to get a good foot on it. “It’s hard to believe we don’t have practice tomorrow,” Rockport head coach Dave Curley said. “I thought our team did an awesome job defending and Eric Littlefield came up with every big play we needed him to. It just didn’t happen for us.” The majority of action to start the second half was played in the middle of the field with neither team getting a solid shot at the net. But Georgetown would crank things up and got eight good shots in the second frame compared to Rockport’s five. Max Harper, John Laut, Chris Birnie, Bitchell and Browner all got several strong shots off, including one Birnie offering that missed just wide right. With Littlefield finally cheating up on Bitchell’s cross, Browner sent a line drive over the Rockport keepers’ head and into the net. “We practiced that sequence all week with me getting that cross,” Browner said. “At halftime we just said ‘this can’t be our last game’ and we just wanted it more at that moment.” The No. 4 seeded Vikings finished the year 14-5-2 while Georgetown improved to 17-1-3.

Top seed Georgetown continued its rampage through the Division 3 North bracket, beating No. 9 Mystic Valley, 8-0 to advance to the semifinals tomorrow.

The Royals (now 16-1-3) will take on fourth seed and CAL nemesis Rockport (14-4-2) at Lynn's Manning Field at 3:15 p.m.

Chris Birnie scored a goal and added three assists to lead No. 1 seeded Georgetown boys soccer to a 4-1 victory over No. 16 seeded Watertown in Division 3 North tournament first round action.

For a moment, Pentucket coach Christian Langlois tried to subdue his team's wild celebration.

"I couldn't tell if the referee had called it a goal or offsides," he said. "All the guys ran onto the field, and I was telling them to come back. Then I realized it was a goal. It was awesome."

Despite surrendering its first goal in the past five games, Georgetown surged for a 4-1 ALS Cup soccer victory over Ipswich to wrap up its regular season at 14-1-3. Matt Bitchell scored three goals, two on penalty kicks, to lead the Royals.

 Showing good balance, the Georgetown boys soccer team (12-1-3) clinched the Cape Ann league Division 3 title with a 4-0 win at Manchester. Leading scorer Matt Bitchell opened the scoring and was followed by Chris Birnie, Jared Warren and Andrew Nowak. It was Nowak's first goal of the season and it came on an assist from Will Soucy  his first varsity point.

The surging Georgetown boys soccer team (10-1-3) scored all six goals in the first half in a 6-0 rout of Amesbury. Matt Bitchell had three goals and an assist for the Royals.

With seven minutes left in the game, Zack Chapman snuck a baseline cross past the Hamilton-Wenham goalie and Colin Macdonald dove to head the ball in the net, giving Pentucket an exciting 1-0 win. Forward Luis O'Meara played great in the second half, helping create scoring chances for the Sachems.

Cody Carbone played well on the defensive end and contributed a pair of assists in North Reading's 4-1 soccer victory over Triton. Dylan Poor pitched in with a goal and two assists for the Hornets, who need five points in their last four games to qualify for state tourney play.

Matt Bitchell scored in the first half and Georgetown surived a late flurry as the Royals snapped North Andover's 10-game winning streak, 1-0. Ben Brock, Andrew Savage, Andrew Nowak and Patrick Slackanchored the winning defense.

Pentucket toppled Masconomet, 2-1, beating the Chieftains for only the second time in coach Christian Langlois' 12-year tenure. Matt Farrell scored the game winner with 15 minutes to go, knocking in the rebound of a Paxton Sedler shot. Logan Sherwood (6 saves) and Cody Sedler (4 saves) combined on the win. With about seven minutes left, Sedler made a tough save and Trevor Delp dove to block the rebound shot which appeared to be a sure goal. Jake Chory, who was under the weather, played the entire second half and was a force on defense.

Despite missing three starters with injuries, Pentucket's boys soccer team qualified for the tournament for the second straight year with a 4-2 victory over North Reading. Patrick Collins, who has been playing particularly well lately according to coach Christian Langlois, had two goals and an assist for the Sachems (8-2-2) while Colin Macdonald added a goal and two assists.