LYNN — Peabody’s Catherine Manning and Tewksbury’s Haley Mignon each scored a goal in a 2-0 North win in Tuesday’s 24th Agganis All-Star girls soccer game at Manning Field.
The game’s MVP honors went to Rockport goalie Alexandra Arndt (North) and Beverly attacker Jordan Butters (South). Arndt anchored a North defense that kept the South scoreless, while Butters played a solid all-around game despite the loss.
The game was especially memorable for South coach Jim Foley of St. Mary’s. He coached three of his Spartans (daughter Jenna Foley, Joslyn Deschenes and Sherly Feliz) one last time, as well as Butters, his cousin. It was also one last game alongside his former assistant coach Sam Charest, who begins her first season as the head coach at Beverly this upcoming fall.
“It was great,” Foley said. “I wish it could’ve ended a little differently but it’s always a pleasure coaching those three girls. They’ve done so much for the program throughout their careers. It’s just nice to see them all one last time.
“It’s good to see,” Foley said of the level of local talent on the field. “We have a lot of talent in the area. It’s good to see the kids all come together. We have kids from different leagues that play against one another (during the regular season) playing with each other (in the Agganis game), which is nice.”
There wasn’t much action on either end of the field through the first half of play. The first 10 minutes were scoreless before Mignon found the back of the net with a nifty goal. Mignon drew the South goalie Jillian Stone (Melrose) out of her post and fired a shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 North lead. That was enough offense for the North all-stars to hold their lead through the next 30 minutes. Jenna Foley had the best look the net when she found a free ball a few yards out but her shot was saved by North goalie Arndt. It remained 1-0 North at halftime.
The South hung tight through the next few minutes of the second half but couldn’t generate a solid look at the net. The North added to its lead midway through the period. Manning sent a shot on goal that managed to sneak past a pair of South defenders and into the net, extending the lead to 2-0 with 21 minutes remaining. That was all the insurance the North needed.
“We had our chances,” Foley said. “The goalie from Rockport (Arndt) has a great reputation. I knew how good she was. She came up with some big plays. At the beginning of the game, it takes a while to kind of settle in. The North settled in a bit quicker than we did, I think, and they were able to put the ball on net. We kind pressed a little bit at the end and we couldn’t get one in by then.”
Down two goals with the clock winding down, the South needed to ramp up its attack to crawl back in. But the North had other ideas, keeping the South’s offense quiet through the closing stages for the 2-0 win.
