St. John’s Prep soccer advances to North final

LYNN – Leading by two goals after 40 minutes of play in Tuesday?s MIAA Division 1 North semifinal, St. John?s Prep expected a strong pushback from top-seeded Malden. The scouting report was accurate.The Golden Tornadoes needed just three minutes to cut its deficit in half before laying siege to the offensive end throughout the second period, building a 12-0 advantage in scoring chances.In the end, though, the No.4 Eagles? defense held the fort, allowing the Prep to escape with a 2-1 victory at Manning Field.?We knew they were going to come at us hard,” said Eagles coach Dave Crowell, whose squad will play for the North title on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Manning. This will be the Eagles? third straight trip to the sectional title game. They will play No. 7 Acton-Boxborough (15-3-3), who beat No. 11 Brookline, 1-0, at Manning.?We lost to Somerville in each of the last two seasons so hopefully the third time will be a charm,” said Crowell. “We?ll have to come in with our A-game.”Following a tally from Joshua Crespo off a feed from Felipe Cypriano to the right post, Malden (18-1-2) continued pushing forward, forcing the Eagles to drop as many as 10 men into the backfield late in regulation.?I said at halftime that if (Malden) got the first one, then we would be defending for 40 minutes and that?s basically what it turned into,” said Crowell. “That was the worst-case scenario and at that point changed our formation and packed it in.”Among the chances were seven shots on net that required the attention of Zachary Rowell who finished with 11 saves in the game.?He played a great game,” said Crowell of his senior goalkeeper. “He was strong in coming off the line and winning balls cleanly. We saw Malden play the other night so Zach knew to be on his toes.”Crowell also praised the efforts of his defenders, especially in crunch time.?We did a good job defending the second ball and playing help defense, which is what we worked on this week in practice,” he said.It was a much different story in the first half for the Eagles, who landed three of the game?s first four chances, the last of which broke the ice.A dominant sequence beginning at the 32:55 mark saw senior forward Paul Magazzu ring the left post after a short pass from junior midfielder Hunter Costa, who in turn set up Tom Erickson for the goal just over a minute later.Magazzu created three solid chances, with the Eagles doubling their lead late in the period on a header from junior midfielder Aidan Robinson following a free kick from senior defenseman Brendan Beuchert.?From our angle it looked like he was in too close and wouldn?t be able to get it on frame, but somehow he contorted his body and got it around,” said Crowell of Robinson?s mid-air display.Malden?s best chance in the opening period came just 1:07 in when a shot of more than 30 yards from Crespo on the left side missed by inches over the top-right corner.The teams finished with six chances each in the half.?We were planning on changing nothing after our strong start,” said Crowell.?We were comfortable with our lead but Malden was a different team in the second half and credit them for it. It was survive and advance in the end.”The Lincoln-Sudbury girls beat Central Catholic, 1-0, in a Division 1 North semifinal to advance to the title game on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at Manning. No. 3 L-S (16-3-1) will face No. 5 Chelmsford (14-3-4), who handed No. 1 Acton-Boxboro (18-1-1) its first loss of the season.