LYNN — St. Mary’s girls soccer coach Jim Foley says his Spartans aimed to go into the state tournament with momentum. Mission accomplished.
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 5-0 Senior Night shutout over Salem Academy Wednesday at Manning Field. St. Mary’s went unbeaten over its final six games.
“We tied Arlington Catholic a few weeks ago and that kind of re-focused us,” Foley said. “Since then, we’ve been playing really well. We tied Austin Prep, we beat Williams. We’ve had a good stretch. We had to pull it together, get into the tournament and prepare for seeding. And that’s what we did.
“It’s the perfect time to play our best. You always want to play your best at the end of the year. That’s how you want to go into the tournament. You don’t want to scuffle. We were able to do that.”
Susannah Cornell propelled the offense with two goals, scored in a 2-minute span at the end of the first half. Kayla Demers, Gaby Diaz and Katie O’Neill netted one goal each. Demers also dished a nifty assist on O’Neill’s second-half goal.
The Spartans’ defense locked down on Salem Academy’s attack without allowing the visitors to pick up any rhythm. Goalies Eliza Brown and Adri Bowker split time in net.
“We’ve only allowed two goals over the last six games,” Foley said. “We’re playing well defensively, we’re getting the goaltending and we’re starting to get the offense. We’ve scuffled a bit offensively. We’re finally healthy now. We have (sweeper) Morgan Mackey back and that’s huge.
“Abby Constine’s in her first year playing stopper and she’s done a great job playing with Morgan. Meghan Leavitt has done a great job. Once we put Jada Mateo back on defense, that really settled us down.”
Demers got the Spartans off to a swift start in the first half. She found the back of the net just three minutes in, giving St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead out of the gate.
“You want to set the tone right off the bat,” Foley said. “That’s Kayla’s 20th goal of the season. We haven’t had a player score 20 goals in a season since Amanda Webster did it. It’s been a while. That’s a true testament to Kayla’s hard work.”
For the next 20 minutes, things cooled down for the Spartans. Offensively, they kept possession but struggled to generate crisp shots. Defensively, they locked down Salem Academy without allowing anything near St. Mary’s end of the field.
Diaz got the Spartans back on track with a goal in the 23rd minute.
Then Cornell took over.
A pair of goals from the junior midfielder doubled the Spartans’ lead to 4-0 at halftime.
O’Neill’s tally midway through the second half put the icing on the cake.
The Spartans now await Friday’s release of the Division 4 North state tournament pairings.
“Amesbury is probably the best team in the bracket,” Foley said. “They’ll probably be the team to go through. Manchester-Essex and Essex Tech are also there. Amesbury has been in the North final for the past couple years in a row. In my opinion, it’ll go through them.
“I think we can play. It’s a matter of whether or not we can show up and play the way we can play.”
After Wednesday’s game, the Spartans held a brief ceremony to honor their six seniors. This season’s senior class includes Diaz, Demers, Mackey, O’Neill, Emily Egan and Riley Lynch.
“They’ve been incredible,” Foley said. “They’ve worked hard. We missed Riley with an ACL injury this year. The seniors have been great leaders on and off the field. They’ve kept everybody focused. We have experience going into the tournament because these girls have all been there their first three years. We’re hoping they carry us in the tournament.”
BOYS SOCCER
Salem Academy 2, St. Mary’s 0
The Spartans closed their season with a Senior Night game at Manning Field. Prior to the game, the team honored seniors Luis Chajon, Matt Gallego, Matt Spencer and Calvin Huynh.
Goalie Jacob Guarino made 22 saves. Gallego and Joshua Chez played well in the attack, while Spencer and Richie LeBrun led the defense. Eduardo Toranzo, Ryan Fraher and Jackson Nickolau played well in the middle.
Peabody 4, Swampscott 1
Victor Maciel’s hat trick led Peabody’s offense and Edward Santos scored one goal. Santos, Maciel and Ben Kemp recorded one assist each.
Peabody goalie Will Machado made eight saves.
“It was a good win to close out the season,” Peabody coach Stan McKeen said. “We’ve built a little bit of momentum, which is great.”
The Tanners, 13-5, await Friday’s release of the Division 1 North state tournament.
St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 1, St. John’s Prep 0
Juniors Greg Pykett and Seamus O’Connor played well. The Eagles (12-3-3) await their seeding in the Division 1 North tournament.
Fenwick 2, Catholic Memorial 0
Sean Kern scored both goals with assists from Liam Chricton and Andrew Perry. Liam Foley notched the shutout.
Fenwick (11-4-4) awaits the Division 3 North tournament pairings.
Essex Tech 2, Tech 0
The Tigers (8-7-4) await the Division 3 North pairings.
