LYNN — While a win would have been the best way to end the season, the St. Mary’s boys soccer team still secured an undefeated regular season record with a 1-1 tie against Concord-Carlisle at Manning Field on Monday afternoon. The Spartans closed out the season with a 16-0-1 record, the best mark in the program’s history.
“It feels amazing, it really does,” St. Mary’s coach Mike D’Agostino said of the milestone. “We’ve got a great team here and a great program, and our guys have played well at every level this year. That’s a great Division 2 opponent that we played today, and to go toe-to-toe with them and finish with a tie shows what we’re made of over here at St. Mary’s.”
Besides having to battle a strong Division 2 opponent, the other force that St. Mary’s had to battle was the swirling wind, which gusted up to 30 miles per hour at times. The wind was really a help to either team, although it was partially responsible for Concord-Carlisle’s goal about 20 minutes into the first half.
With 19:21 remaining in the first half, Concord-Carlisle got the ball at midfield and sent it into the St. Mary’s zone. Theo Ball won a race to the ball in the right corner and sent a high, lofting shot at the net that bent into the net over the outstretched hands of Spartans goalkeeper Richie Mateo to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
But the Spartans were quick to answer. Less than three minutes later, St. Mary’s had a throw-in in the offensive zone. Matt Connolly made the throw in to Olu George, who made a quick touch and sent a pass to a waiting Chris Garcia. After a quick move to free up some space, Garcia launched a shot into the back of the net to tie up the score.
“We had some issues early and let that scoring opportunity hurt us on a great shot by their guy,” D’Agostino said. “But we stayed aggressive and kept pushing, and Chris was able to squeeze in there for a nice goal on a good team effort.”
The second half was even more of a back-and-forth battle. Both teams earned great scoring opportunities, with Concord-Carlisle taking two free kicks deep in the offensive zone and St. Mary’s earning four corners. Both goalkeepers, Mateo for St. Mary’s and Cam Gearty for Concord-Carlisle, played outstanding, making diving saves left and right to keep the score tied for the remainder of the game.
With the regular season now over, the Spartans have a day or two to enjoy all they’ve accomplished before the state tournament gets started. St. Mary’s is all but assured a No. 1 seed in the Division 4 North tournament when the pairings are announced on Wednesday.
“It was a great day for St. Mary’s boys soccer today, and I think we’ll enjoy what we accomplished this regular season for a couple of days,” said D’Agostino. “But it was the regular season, and we’ll have to be ready to start a brand-new season here this weekend. It was great to get work in against a very solid opponent going into the tournament, and now we’re looking to take this momentum into the weekend and make some things happen in the tournament.”
