SAUGUS – Bishop Fenwick’s Kristin Verrette was obviously jumping at the opportunity to play against all her Saugus friends Tuesday, and she certainly made the most of it.Verrette, a 16-year-old junior, scored two goals and did the bulk of the work on Danielle Dinuccio’s tally as the Crusaders blanked the Sachems, 3-0, in a Division 2 North girls soccer semifinal game.Click here for a photo gallery.”It was pretty weird coming here to play them,” said Verrette, who lives in the town. “I’m really good friends with five or six of the girls on the (Sachems).”Her best friend – Lauren Donati – prevented Verrette from getting the hat trick, however. Late in the first half, with Fenwick already ahead 2-0 thanks to a pair of Verrette goals, the speedy junior was poised to put her third one in. However, Donati managed to slide in between Verrette and the goalmouth, deflecting the shot and keeping the Sachems – for the moment, at least – in the game.”This really didn’t seem like a 3-0 game,” said Saugus coach Chris Coviello. “Each team had two shots in the first half ? their two went in, ours didn’t. One hit the side of the net, and the other one just missed.”Verrette’s first goal came early in the half (there was no scoreboard or clock at Anna Parker Playground, and the referees with the official sheets left immediately after the game) when Verrette just blasted one in from about 10 feet out, almost directly in front of Saugus keeper Melissa Toomey. Shortly thereafter, Gabby Cogliano had an excellent bid, albeit from an odd angle, and the shot caught the side of the net.Verrette scored goal No. 2 in the first half, this one from about 20 yards out and to Toomey’s left. The shot rung off the near post, but instead of ricocheting away, it bounded into the net, and it was 2-0, Fenwick.”Even though we were up, it didn’t seem like we were up 2-0,” Fenwick coach Karen Guillemette said. “Saugus played very well. They’re a very good team, and once you get this far into the tournament, everybody belongs here.”Thanks to Donati’s defensive play late in the half, the score remained 2-0, Fenwick.And it stayed that way until Dinuccio’s goal wrapped up the scoring. But in between, Saugus kept the pressure up on Fenwick keeper Jill Dean, but simply ran into bad luck. Alyssa Wilkie booted one from about 15 feet out that clanged off the near post, and, moments later, Andrea O’Neill did her one better, lifting one up high that seemed to have Dean befuddled. But the shot kept rising, hit the crossbar, and bounced off the top of the net.”For 30 minutes, we were all over them in the second half,” Coviello said. “We played a great half. We just couldn’t put it in. Then, two minutes after that, they come down and score. Unbelievable.”Verrette dribbled the ball deep into Saugus territory, to Toomey’s right, and launched a shot that the keeper managed to block. Unfortunately for her, the rebound came out to Dinuccio, who tapped it back in to put the game out of reach.
