ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
St. Mary’s Codi Butt defends against Fenwick’s Emily Charette.
By KATIE MORRISON
PEABODY — It’s never easy to start the season against one of the best teams in the league.
St. Mary’s girls lacrosse team was faced with that situation Saturday, dropping the opener to Bishop Fenwick, 16-5, at Donaldson Field.
The Spartans, 0-1, were stuck practicing indoors after their first three games were postponed. Fenwick, 2-0, on the other hand, was riding high after an overtime win against Austin Prep in its opener.
Fenwick rode that momentum into Saturday’s game, and wasted no time in getting on the board. The Crusaders won the opening faceoff and Meghan Carney fired a shot past St. Mary’s goalie Brittany McPherson 10 seconds into the game.
The Fenwick offense didn’t slow up. Molly Camelo and Merry Harrington netted goals in the next minute, and just like that, the Crusaders held a 3-0 lead.
Colleen Corcoran and Tori Hernandez added goals for Fenwick before the Spartans could grab and maintain possession long enough to pressure the Crusaders’ defense. Teagan Ahern gave Fenwick a 6-0 lead after 5:30 in the first half.
The Spartans figured out the quick, powerful Fenwick offense midway through the half. McPherson kept them in the game with several phenomenal point-blank saves.
“She’s a rock star,” KC Butt, St. Mary’s coach, said of McPherson. “The girls were so tall, they had great skills and ball placement, and Brittany still made some awesome saves. We went from being in a zone defense to playing man-to-man, because they were just too fast and too tall for us to cover them with a zone. I think it was a big difference when we breathed, settled down, and played man-to-man.”
St. Mary’s held off the Crusaders for about 10 minutes and created some chances for themselves.
Fenwick struck again, with 9:45 left in the half. McPherson turned away a shot from Corcoran. But the attack swiftly picked up her rebound and put it back to give Fenwick a 7-0 lead.
Unanswered goals from Camelo and Harrington gave Fenwick a 10-0 lead before the Spartans got on the board. Maggie Flaherty put one past goalie Meghan Woodworth with about a minute left in the half. Colbi Flickinger capped the scoring in the first half, giving Fenwick an 11-1 lead.
Again, the Crusaders wasted no time after the opening faceoff of the second half, as Harrington scored her fifth of the game. But the Spartans got it back quickly, as Flaherty scored her second with an assist from Sarah Ryan. Goals from Harrington, Hernandez and Corcoran gave Fenwick a 15-2 lead halfway through the second half.
St. Mary’s continued to play its game, however, and Sophya Fuccione got a goal back late in the half. Flaherty assisted Codi Butt on a goal with 2:30 to play, and Ellie Martin stayed with a shot and put back her own rebound with a minute to play to finish the scoring.
“I think we started out strong, won the first few draws, and we just fast-breaked out and scored some quick goals,” said Karen Guillemette, Fenwick’s coach. “I thought we played great defensively, our goalkeeper came up with some big saves. Overall, I thought we just had a good, solid effort. It’s a long road, a long season, and we have a long way to go to get to the level we want to be at.”
Butt said Fenwick is probably the best team in the league right now.
“I’m really proud of our girls, they’ve come a long way,” Butt said. “They held their own, held their heads high, and did things we needed to see. It was a rough start going up against the best team.”
Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KatieMo61.
