Mistakes hurt Spartans in close loss

It was one of those games that left St. Mary?s coach Jim Foley trying to figure out what happened.On a wind-swept Tuesday at Manning Field, the Spartans had a chance to ensure a home game in the upcoming state tournament but let that slip by the boards thanks to a couple of little mistakes that turned into Archbishop Williams goals and a 2-1 Bishops victory.?We just couldn?t get anything going,” Foley said. “We made two mistakes and it cost us two goals. And then we had some chances and couldn?t finish.”The Spartans (8-3-2, 4-3-2 Catholic Central League/Large) had to go against a strong wind for most of the first half and more than held their own as they held Williams to only one shot on goal with the wind at their backs.Problem for St. Mary?s was that it couldn?t sustain an offensive push despite controlling possession for long stretches. Things also went haywire on the front line when freshman Mia Nikolakopoulos was lost for the game with an injury in the 15th minute.St. Mary?s would get out of the first half in a scoreless tie and then turned towards the scoreboard end of the field and looked to go on the attack with the gusting wind in its favor.It paid off almost immediately when Cassandra LaFauci had a chance in the box but put a shot just over the net. The Spartans would control most of the play over the first 10 minutes of the second half but an innocent turnover in the midfield in the 51st minute resulted in the game?s first goal.Asiah Dingle picked up the loose ball and raced towards Katie Donnelly?s goal. Defender Madison Welch raced back and was able to break up the play but she also bumped into Donnelly and jarred the ball loose. Dingle was able to regain her balance and get to the loose ball for the easy putaway and a 1-0 Bishops lead with 30:50 to go.St. Mary?s went back on the offensive and five minutes later would get even thanks to a beautiful play from Katie Terban and Taylor Capozzi.Terban dribbled into the midfield and lofted a ball into the box. Capozzi was able to hold off a defender and niftily redirect the long ball past Andrea Liddell to tie the game with 24:59 to go.It looked like the Spartans had regained the momentum but the Bishops, who were trying to clinch a tournament berth of their own, were able to take advantage of another mental miscue to net what turned out to be the game-winner.Meg Donovan worked her way into the box and then somehow came out of a swarm of three Spartan defenders. She cut towards the goal and put a shot inside the right post with 20:03 to go for a 2-1 Williams lead.?We had the wind for the second half and just didn?t capitalize,” Foley said. “We kind of sat back and waited for things to happen.”The Williams defense took over from there as it kept the Spartans attack on the perimeter over the final 20 to clinch a tourney spot.