Prep soccer keeps on rolling

The St. John’s Prep boys soccer team is rarely in a position to sneak up on anyone or play the underdog role, but that’s where the Eagles find themselves as they head into the Division 1 North final against Framingham Sunday (7:30) at Woburn High.Although no one is looking past the 19th-seeded Prep given the schedule the Eagles played to tune up for the postseason, coach Dave Crowell does see his team in somewhat of an underdog role.”Framingham has lost one game in two years and they just knocked off an undefeated Lexington,” Crowell said. “They do pretty much everything well. They have some creative, skilled players, they defend well, and they can score quickly.”Crowell is expecting Framingham to have a good central midfield and a balanced scoring attack.”They have a lot of speed and they come at you a lot of ways,” Crowell said.The Eagles have a couple of local players who have been factored into the team’s success this season. Foti Andreo of Lynn, a junior center midfielder, had the winning goal Thursday night against Westford Academy and Steve Pasinski of Nahant has been tough in net all season.”He (Andreo) has come a long way,” Crowell said. “He’s one of our creative guys in the middle. He’s kind of the catalyst that gets us going.”Crowell said Andreo has really elevated his play and his intensity the last two or three weeks.”We’re getting a whole lot of balls at midfield that we weren’t getting to and that enables us to counter quickly. A lot of that comes from him,” Crowell said.Pasinski, a goalie, split time between junior varsity and varsity last year. He’s another one who has really kicked it up a notch over the last month, Crowell said.Crowell said his team has improved as the season has gone on, and he credits his success in the tournament with the tough schedule the Eagles play during the regular season. He said his team’s defense has also turned up its game, adding that defense wins tight games.Crowell said the turning point in the season probably came when the Eagles played Xaverian on the road. After losing to the Hawks, 3-1, on its home turf, St. John’s came back to beat its Catholic Conference foe 2-0 the second go-around.Crowell has some nice weapons at his disposal Sunday night, beginning with his leading scorer, Kelley Johnson (7 goals), and Joe Woelfel, who only scored one goal during the regular season, but caught fire in the tournament, where he now has four goals.”We’re calling him Mr. November,” Crowell joked.Crowell will also be relying on his senior sweeper, Owen Fox, who is heading to Harvard, where he hopes to play soccer. Fox missed the last three games of the regular season with a back injury.