St Mary’s boys soccer defeats Swampscott 1-0

LYNN – St. Mary’s played host to a soccer doubleheader against Swampscott on Monday. In the first game, the Spartans eked out a very close 1-0 win over the Big Blue from Swampscott. St. Mary’s brought a record of 5-2-4 into the game. Spartan coach Al Jackson knew that Swampscott was in the thick of the NEC Small race. Coach Jackson said, "We have to be at our best to be able to pull out a win. Swampscott has given trouble to a lot of teams."Swampscott coach Art Simms said, "Our biggest problem is finishing. Seven of our nine games have been decided by one goal."The Big Blue had a record of 4-4-1, all in the NEC, entering the game. This was their first non-league game.The game was played as you would expect from these two coaches: at a very high speed. The early part of the first half was played mainly at midfield. In the 15th minute, Corey Simone sent in freshman Julian Yourawski with a through ball down the right wing. He cut into the area through traffic and put the ball on the ground into the left corner. This made the score St. Mary’s 1, Swampscott 0.The remainder of the half was played mostly in the Big Blue end as St. Mary’s pushed for another goal. Swampscott keeper, Dean Dennis, made a number of outstanding saves to prevent any further scoring. The half ended with the score Spartans 1, Big Blue 0.The second half was all Swampscott as the Big Blue tried for the equalizer and St Mary’s was holding on, trying to preserve the one-goal lead. Swampscott’s best chances came in the last ten minutes when the Big Blue forced Spartan keeper Andrew LaMacchia to come up with two great saves. Three shots that the Big Blue took narrowly missed the top corner of the net. Much to Swampscott’s dismay, the game finally ended with the Spartans clinging to that one-goal margin. The final score was St Mary’s 1, Swampscott 0.St Mary’s record now goes to 5-2-4, and the Spartans will play Austin Prep at the end of the week. Swampscott drops to 4-5-1, and the Big Blue will play Peabody on Friday.