Girls Soccer: Spartans prevail to fight another day

Not that there’s ever a bad time to get a hat trick, but Michelle Macchione’s three goals couldn’t have come at a better time for the St. Mary’s girls soccer team as it struggles to qualify for the state tournament.Macchione went on a first-half scoring spree for the Spartans, netting all of her goals before the half in a 3-2 St. Mary’s win over Swampscott at Manning Field.Click here for a photo gallery.”This was a huge lift for us,” St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley said. “Our backs were against the wall.”St. Mary’s (7-8-1) needs three points out of its next two games. The Spartans play Cardinal Spellman (a team they lost to 1-0 the first time around) and Fontbonne.Jen Cleary and Tess Gorman scored for Swampscott, which trailed 3-1 at the half and 3-2 with about 15 minutes remaining.”We did what we had to do to pull out the win. They (the Big Blue) are a very good team,” Foley said.Foley said he also received good games out of Molly Carey, Courtney Winters and keeper Angela Dandreo.Lynnfield 2, Georgetown 1At Georgetown, Lauren McCarthy fired a laser beam of a shot from 18-20 yards out to give Lynnfield a 1-0 lead nine minutes into the game. Kathleen Rourke supplied what would be the game-winner early in the second half when she took a through pass from Jenny Schlezi and drove on the net. Georgetown scored with about 13 minutes remaining on a penalty kick.Neither team put tremendous pressure on the other’s goalie with the battle being fought primarily in the midfield.Lynnfield (11-3-3) plays Manchester Wednesday and North Reading on Friday. Lynnfield and North Reading are currently battling it out for first place in the Cape Ann League Small.Fenwick 2, Arl. Cath. 2At Arlington, the Crusaders (5-4-6) would have liked to come out of this one with two points, but had to settle for one. Fenwick led 2-0 at the half on goals by Brittany Dolan and Kristin Verrette, but Arlington Catholic scored right off the bat in the second half and tied the game 10 minutes later.”It’s better than a loss,” Fenwick coach Karen Guillemette said. “We needed the point. I think we can play better. I think they feel they can play better.”Jill Dean made four saves for Fenwick.