LYNN — The 2016 season came to a tough close for the St. Mary’s boys soccer team after the Spartans allowed a late season-ending goal to Boston International in the Division 3 North semifinal.
The loss forced St. Mary’s out of the state tournament a little earlier than the team had hoped.
Despite the sour ending to 2016, the Spartans are back and looking forward to a strong season this fall. Their coach, Mike D’Agostino, in his ninth season at the helm of the program, is confident that he has the right group of players leading the way in 2017.
“We have a great team returning,” D’Agostino said. “We only lost two seniors from last season’s team. We have a lot of new players that will help us. We have a great team of players that’ll help guide us in the right direction.”
Leading the key returners from last season’s core is goaltender Richie Mateo, a senior.
“Richie’s experience and leadership will definitely help us this season,” D’Agostino said.
Mateo will serve as one of the team’s three captains this fall, alongside seniors Chris Garcia and Ryan Ramsey.
Junior Olu George, who plays multiple positions in filling in wherever he’s needed, will also be leaned on heavily this season.
“Olu gets a lot of respect from other coaches, no matter where I put him,” D’Agostino. “He gives 100 percent on and off the field.”
Nolan Perez, a junior, will also tackle a utility role and be a player to watch for the Spartans.
The Spartans will be fairly skilled on both sides of the game, D’Agostino said. They’ll also have depth on their side, which is much to the coach’s liking.
“Overall I think we’re very strong,” D’Agostino said. “We’re coming into the season where I don’t need to do much preparation because the talent and skill is there. We’re very strong overall on both sides. Depth will definitely be one of our strengths this year because we have some great players coming off the bench.”
Aside from depth, D’Agostino’s looking forward to fielding a team that’ll have maturity and experience on its side. The Spartans have four seniors on their roster and a strong group of 14 juniors.
“Last year we didn’t have much depth, coming off the bench,” D’Agostino said. “This year we have a lot of depth and some great key players with a lot of maturity. We have 14 juniors along with four seniors. That’s a lot of maturity and that’ll help us. As long as we come into the season in shape, we should be a great team that people should look out for.”
D’Agostino expects the Catholic Central League to be a challenge, as it normally is. With tough teams on St. Mary’s schedule like Austin Prep Archbishop Williams and Bishop Fenwick, the Spartans will have their hands full throughout the season.
“I know Williams graduated a couple good players but the conference gets stronger every year,” D’Agostino said. “Austin Prep will be a great team. The teams that have question marks will be challenging this year. Fenwick has a new coach and a new style of play so we’ll look forward to that rivalry again this season.”
St. Mary’s began it’s preseason slate of practices on Thursday and D’Agostino is pleased with what he’s seen thus far.
“We have one of the largest number of players we’ve had in my nine years coaching,” D’Agostino said. “We had almost 40 kids at tryouts. The kids look good and in shape. They’re hungry and eager to play.”
The Spartans open the season on Sept. 5, when they clash against English in the Lynn City Tournament at Manning Field.
“First thing’s first, we haven’t won the city tournament in a few years,” D’Agostino said. “We’re really hungry and looking forward to this game.”
