Road ends for St. Mary’s girls soccer with loss to Ipswich

PEABODY – The St. Mary’s girls soccer team fought, but the Spartans came up just short in the MIAA Division 3 North semifinals against the Ipswich Tigers.The Spartans were unable to capitalize on several opportunities before Ipswich took advantage on a goal from Sophie Marsh to win 1-0 at Donaldson Field in Peabody.”It was a great soccer game to watch,” said St. Mary’s head coach Jim Foley. “They made a play when they had to.”Both teams had some opportunities to score in the first half. The Tigers controlled the play in the initial 10 minutes. Spartans sophomore goalkeeper Katie Donnelly made a couple of saves to squelch Ipswich’s threat. Then the Spartans held the ball for the majority of the half with Carol DiMaiti and Jennie Mucciarone getting chances, but Ipswich’s midfielders and defenders did not let the Spartans break free down the middle of the field. There were a couple of saves by Ipswich goalie Molly Markos.Late in the opening half, St. Mary’s had a penalty kick from 20 yards out that was put on net. Markos caught the ball in the air with no Spartan near her.The squads went into halftime staring at a scoreless tie.In the final 40 minutes, the action ramped up. Ipswich was unable to successfully complete a cross. The Spartans drove downfield and got a corner kick in the 47th minute. The ball was kicked out of bounds by St. Mary’s to the right of the net and Ipswich received possession for a goal kick.A few minutes later, the official rewarded St. Mary’s with a penalty kick on a play when two opposing players went for a header in the box. Maggie Carey sent the ball just wide right, missing by just inches.”We had chances to score, so it wasn’t like we couldn’t do anything,” said Foley. “We lost to a good team.””The penalty kick was a bit of a wakeup call,” said Ipswich head coach Nancy Waddell.Marsh was able to finally get by sweeper Taylor Cash and sneak one in on the left post past Donnelly.St. Mary’s frantically tried to even the score, but was unable to get significant chances or rebounds as the Tigers held the St. Mary’s offensive firepower in check.In a tight battle, this truly was a game of inches.