Boys Soccer Roundup: Spartans’ Jackson makes it 14-for-14

Streaks come and go, but at least one lives. St. Mary’s boys soccer coach Al Jackson has been at the helm for 14 years and for the 14th time, his team has qualified for the state tournament.The Spartans (7-2-4) guaranteed themselves a trip to the postseason Friday with a 2-0 win over Austin Prep at North Reading.”We dominated the game, especially in the first half,” Jackson said. “We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”St. Mary’s finally broke through when Corey Simone took a pass from Eric Donaghy and put it away with a high, hard shot. Alex Glover had the second goal, a bullet of a shot from 35 yards out. Donaghy assisted on that one as well. Andrew LaMacchia was between the pipes and picked up his seventh shutout.The Spartans play Dracut today.Classical 0, Marblehead 0At Manning Field, this one was a defensive gem on both sides.”The game was about as even as you’re going to see a game,” Marblehead coach Steve Ingemi said. “We didn’t play that well, but we played well enough to shut out one of the highest-scoring teams in the conference.”Ingemi said his MVP was keeper Kurt Grossman, who had eight saves, including one at point-blank range from Classical scoring machine Miguel Castro.Classical is 4-4-5 and Marblehead is 6-3-3.Salem 4, Saugus 1At Salem, the Witches (9-3-1) are one point shy of qualifying for the state tournament. Salem’s Chris Alas gave his team a 1-0 lead in the first half with Alejandro Alvarez, Muur Mahamed and Brad Duhaime supplying the other three goals. Saugus scored midway through the second half to cut the lead to 3-1.Beverly 1, Swampscott 1At Beverly, the Panthers’ Rodrigo Valdez scored six minutes into the second half, but the Big Blue escaped with a point thanks to a goal by Matt Gateman with eight minutes left. Beverly keeper Brett Battistelli had three saves and Swampscott goalie Dennis Dean had 12. Beverly is 2-6-3, 2-5-3 Northeastern Conference.Gloucester 3, Revere 0At Revere, both teams braved the cold temperature and poor field conditions with the Fishermen coming out on top. The Patriots, who play Classical Tuesday, need six points in five games to qualify for the state tournament. Revere is 5-7-1.