Girls Soccer: St. Mary’s passes road test at Austin Prep

Not even St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley could have expected the start his club is off to this season.On Wednesday, the Spartans went to Austin Prep and riding the back of a pair of goals and an assist from Brianna Anderson took a 3-2 win over the Cougars in Reading.”Considering what we lost and the pieces we had to put together, we’ve done pretty well,” Foley said.”I couldn’t be more pleased with the start we’ve had,” Foley said.The Spartans (6-1-1, 4-1-1 Catholic Central League/Large) ran out to a 2-0 lead early in the first half before the Cougars cut the lead in half.St. Mary’s would restore the two goal lead late in the half.Carol DiMaiti added the other St. Mary’s goal. The Spartans host Swampscott on Saturday at Manning Field.Saugus 6, Classical 0At Manning Field, Paige Hibbert and Brianna Evans each had a pair of goals for the Sachems, who improve to 6-0-1.Jackie Russo and Gabby Cogliano took care of the rest of the scoring. The Rams are 1-5-1.Danvers 2, Swampscott 1At Danvers, Corey Persson (from Meghan Kenny) and Kelsie O’Brien (from Delaney Zecha) scored first-half goals for the Falcons (5-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the Northeastern Conference).Kelly Birchmore scored on a penalty kick in the second half for the 4-2-1 Big Blue.Peabody 3, Beverly 2At Beverly, the Tanners (5-0-2, 3-0-1 NEC North) got a serious challenge from the Panthers but Hayley Dowd recorded a hat trick and Vicky DiGiacomo handed out two assists to get Peabody over the hump.”(Beverly) gave us all we could handle,” Peabody coach Dennis Desroches said.”They are a team that you can tell plays 100% from the start. It was a great game to be a part of.”The Panthers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead before Dowd scored twice for a 2-1 lead at the break.Beverly again scored early to tie the game in the second half before DiGiacomo fed Dowd for the game winner.Gloucester 4, English 0At Newell Stadium in Gloucester, the Bulldogs (2-6-1) played well for a half but the Fishermen scored late in the opening half to break a scoreless tie.Mackenzie Clark, Brianna Goulet and Rachel Royce had solid games for English.Fenwick 2, Matignon 0At Matignon, Rose Fantozzi scored both goals for the Crusaders (4-2-2), one in the first and one in the second.Beckey Mercuro played well at midfield.Marblehead 4, Salem 4At Marblehead, playing without sweeper and captain Kathryn Digimmarino, the Magicians got goals from Lindsey Cohen (from Becca Unterboorn), Gabby Carrick, Megan Stanojev and Sydney Cayen.Senior Calin Daley had two assists.