Sonia scores game-winner as St. Mary’s boys soccer beats Fenwick

LYNN – Bishop Fenwick coach Andrew Bub and St. Mary’s head man Mike D’Agostino are the best of friends 363 days a year. But on the two days that the Spartans and Crusaders meet on the soccer field, the friendship goes right out the window.Click here for a photo gallery of last night’s gameThursday at Manning Field, it was D’Agostino’s team that came through as Mike Sonia’s header with 4:14 left provided the difference in a 3-2 Spartan win.”We really needed this one,” D’Agostino said. “The big thing that we’ve had a problem with all year is head balls and that’s how we got the game winning goal.”St. Mary’s (8-5) controlled play for most of the game but were frustrated time and time again by the Crusaders backline.”We played a great first half but they wanted it more than us in the second half. And give Mike credit for having his team fired up and ready to go,” Bub said.Fenwick (6-3-2) had a chance early on to go in front but Brian Blaisdell’s shot whistled over the crossbar. After that, the first half would be owned by St. Mary’s.Pedro Lucas Ferreira had a pair of chances at the 10 minute mark but saw both shots go just wide of the mark. After a timeout, St. mary’s continued to press and saw a Ralph Bertrand shot punched away.It stayed scoreless until late in the half when Blaisdell found a loose ball in the box off a corner kick and punched a shot past Helio Neto with 5:44 left to send Fenwick to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.”Brian gave us a big lift with that goal,” Bub said.The Spartans came out of the dressing room on fire as Bertrand just missed tying the game off a turnover less than five minutes into the half. Minutes later, he wouldn’t miss as he tied the game with 27:26 left off a scramble in front of the Fenwick net.”Ralph’s goal really gave us a boost that we needed,” D’Agostino said.Less than 10 minutes later, the Spartans took the lead for the first time as Alexander Alleyne fired a shot that glanced off the back of a Fenwick defender and went in.The Crusaders didn’t waste much time in charging back, in fact it took all of 30 seconds for Fenwick to draw even as Chris Poirier’s shot glanced off a Spartan defender and past a startled Neto to tie the game at 2-2.”I give my guys a lot of credit. They didn’t hang their heads when they got behind and came right back to tie the game.”It looked like the game might end in a 2-2 draw but the Spartans made one final push with 4:30 left.Out of a timeout, Nick Moschella’s throw in was headed on by Alleyne. His shot was stopped but Sonia was able to outjump the Fenwick defense to get the rebound for the game-winning goal.”It’s always a big rivalry game when we play each other,” Bub said. “Give Mike and his team a lot of credit. They came out and played a great second half.”