PEABODY — A slight breakdown in communication was the only opening the Woburn girls soccer team needed to put up the only score of the day in a 1-0 win over host Bishop Fenwick (1-1) Saturday at Donaldson Field.
Woburn’s Cyndea Labissiere was in the right spot at just the right time, popping in the game-winning goal following a corner kick in the ninth minute.
“Their goal, on a corner, we had everybody assigned to a player but we lacked communication and their player just came in alone,” said Fenwick coach Steve Flaherty. “It was a breakdown on our part. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great corner on their part but we made it harder on ourselves by not communicating.”
The game was a tale of two halves with the Tanners (3-1) controlling the first half and the Crusaders owning the second.
With 1-0 lead, the Tanners continued to press the rest of the first half. They missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead late in the half when they had two corners, but were stymied by Fenwick keeper Kelsey Francis. The Crusaders dodged another bullet when a third corner was awarded, but time ran out.
With a 1-0 lead, Woburn went into defensive mode in the second half with four flat backs, allowing Fenwick to generate a more sustained attack.
Freshman forward Alison Mitchell slipped in past the defense about three minutes in and got off a shot, but was denied by Woburn’s keeper. With under 27 minutes to play, sophomore midfielder Isabella DelVecchio set herself up for an opportunity with some fancy footwork, but blasted the shot wide.
One minute later, senior captain Jenna Durkin drilled a free kick from the 35-yard line, but it, too, went wide.
Fenwick’s best chance to break through came in the 60th minute when Woburn was flagged for a hand ball a few feet outside the box. Durkin chipped the ball into a scrum in front, but Woburn was able to clear the ball out of trouble.
Woburn amped up its offensive attack over the next three minutes, generating two scoring chances, the first one a free kick from the 40. DelVecchio thwarted the chance with a head ball out of the zone. A minute later, Fenwick keeper Claudia Keith made a diving save on a free kick from the 25.
Fenwick’s last chance to even the score came with about six minutes to go. Junior defender Elani Gikas played a through ball headed toward the Woburn goal, but Woburn’s keeper won a foot race and cleared.
“We did dominate the second half, but that’s the cruelty of soccer. You can dominate but if you don’t put that thing in the net, it doesn’t really do you any good,” Flaherty said. “Give credit to them, they were well disciplined and they knew what they needed to do. Overall, we created opportunities but we just couldn’t find the back of the net. I’m very happy with the effort we had in the second half.”
Flaherty said Ella Morgan, Jenna Durkin and Eleni Gikas played very smart soccer and Mia Tsaparlis and Alison Mitchell did a good job up top.
Despite the loss, Flaherty said there are other positives to build on.
“We need to work on a lot of defensive stuff, but besides that, I got the effort I asked for,” he said. “We needed to place our shots better, but it’s only our second game. This game is a good job for us to get us ready for the CCL.”
