LYNN — The St. Mary’s boys soccer team put together a solid defensive game and added a relentless offensive attack for a convincing 8-0 win over Arlington Catholic Wednesday at Manning Field.
Kevin Perez and Jackson Nickolau each led the Spartans with two goals. Nolan Perez, Olushola George, Matt Connolly and Aiden O’Brien each added one goal.
“We definitely moved the ball very well offensively today,” St. Mary’s coach Mike D’Agostino said. “Everyone had a huge part to play with all the goal scorers and assists. We had a lot of playmakers moving the ball around and some beautiful head balls that were a great way to finish plays.
“Defensively we definitely stayed organized,” D’Agostino added. “There was great structure back there led by Connor Mackey, who has done a great job in the back for us this year.”
The Spartans found their first goal with just over 33 minutes remaining in the first half. A free kick by George was controlled by Nolan Perez who, after his first shot was saved, got his own rebound and finished the play to put St. Mary’s ahead 1-0.
St. Mary’s had plenty of scoring chances but struggled to finish on most of them in the first half. Just when it looked like Arlington Catholic might have survived the half with a one-goal deficit, Joseph Thongsythavong sent a pass to Kevin Perez who redirected the ball with his head to put St. Mary’s ahead 2-0 before halftime.
The Spartans turned it on from the start of the second half, scoring two goals in the first two minutes. This time George hit Kevin Perez with a nice assist, who finished once again for his second header of the day. Less than 50 seconds later, Nickolau added another goal, assisted by Thiago DeOliveira, to put St. Mary’s ahead 4-0.
“We had a good pep-talk in the locker room at half time,” D’Agostino said of the fast start in the second half. “We had a lot of opportunities the first half. We definitely possessed really well, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. We worked at the beginning of the week on finishing and what we need to do to get the ball in and we capitalized on that today.”
After his first two assists, George found the back of the net himself with 33:20 left in the game. DeOliveira ripped a shot that was saved, but George controlled the rebound and scored to extend the St. Mary’s lead to 5-0.
Later in the second half, Nickolau added his second goal after receiving a nice set-up pass from Nolan Perez to put the Spartans ahead 6-0.
With the game well in hand the Spartans were able to rotate in some different players but the offensive attack didn’t waver.
With just over 10 minutes to play, Connolly slipped by a Cougars defender and ripped a wide open shot to extend the lead to 7-0. Less than a minute later, O’Brien also found an opening on a nice pass from Thongsythavong to score his first goal of the season and put St. Mary’s ahead 8-0.
St. Mary’s (8-1-1, 6-0-1 in CCL play) will host Lincoln-Sudbury Saturday afternoon (4) in a non-conference tilt at Manning Field.
“It’s a great test for us,” D’Agostino said of the upcoming schedule. “We have games left against Lincoln Sudbury, St. John’s Prep and Concord Carlisle, all ranked high in the state. We have a great team and a great program so we are excited to see how we will do against a bigger program and move ahead. I’m very excited.”
