LYNN — The St. Mary’s and Austin Prep girls soccer teams know what to expect from one another when they meet for a game. Both teams have skilled players up and down their rosters and come to play for a full 80 minutes. Wednesday evening’s contest between the Catholic Central League rivals at Manning Field was no different.
St. Mary’s led twice, but a pesky Cougars team crawled back on both occasions to force a 2-2 draw.
“We expected a hard-fought battle,” St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley said. “They went down to Spellman and beat them, and they’re coming off a tough game against Archbishop Williams. It’s a battle, that’s what the Catholic Central League is. There aren’t any nights off in our league. It’s a battle every time we play Austin Prep.”
The draw places St. Mary’s at 3-1-2 on the season, while Austin Prep’s now 5-1-1.
It took a while for both teams to find their footing coming out of the gate in the first half. Austin Prep’s Mia Han sent a pair of shots St. Mary’s goalie Alex Iacoviello’s way midway through the period but the first sailed high over the crossbar and the second was saved to keep the game scoreless.
That’s how it stayed until the Spartans broke the ice in the 19th minute of play when sophomore forward Gaby Diaz-Martinez found the back of the net to give St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead.
“Gaby has a great knack for the game,” Foley said. “She knows the game really well. She’s able to finish, she sets up plays and she controls the middle of the field.”
Defensively, St. Mary’s looked alert and efficient for the majority of the night, but a slight slip cost the Spartans in the 35th minute.
Austin Prep’s Dani Rich found herself in a one-on-one with Iacoviello and buried the ball into the net to tie the game at 1-1. Iacoviello was forced to come out of the net to attempt the save but Rich beat the senior goalie’s dive. The score remained tied at the end of the half.
“We just had to come out and get fired up in the second half,” Foley said. “We had the wind in our favor for the half. We just had to play our game. It’s a huge rivalry, a lot of these kinds know each other. We just had to come out and play the game the way we should.”
Nine minutes into the second half, St. Mary’s retook the lead when senior midfielder Mia Nikolakopoulos, a Spartans team captain, shot a long-distance laser into the net. Nikolakopoulos’ shot, taken from 30 yards out, made it a 2-1 game in St. Mary’s favor.
“Mia was out last year with a torn ACL,” Foley said. “She’s back and she wants to win. That’s what a senior captain does in a situation like that.”
Austin Prep senior Ellen Klucznik tied the game with eight minutes to play and the contest ended in a 2-2 draw.
“It’s a little frustrating,” Foley said of the draw. “That’s something we have trouble with sometimes. We take a lead but we have to be able to finish. I’m proud of the girls because some of our players are a little banged up and sick. We have to work on finishing games but the effort’s there.”
The Spartans are back in action on Friday afternoon when the team visits Greater Lowell. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
