PEABODY — Behind a strong defensive effort Wednesday night, the Bishop Fenwick girls soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over Central Catholic in a non-conference matchup at Donaldson Stadium.
“We came out strong and we were playing well from the start,” said Fenwick coach Steve Flaherty. “We gave up one goal from a lapse in judgement on the field but for the most part we played a really solid game out there.”
Katie Dunn had one goal and one assist for the Crusaders, while Molly Jenkins scored one goal and Isabella DelVecchio had one assist. Lea Bettencourt played well on the defensive end and goalkeeper Claudia Keith was stout in net all game long.
“We had contributions at all levels (Wednesday),” said Flaherty. “We got some strong possessions on offense, we were solid in the midfield and we played really well on the back end. Our goaltending was also solid and so was our decision-making outside of the one bad play where we let up that goal.”
Fenwick came out strong and pushed the pace early, setting up a number of opportunities in the offensive end in the opening minutes. Unfortunately, an on-field lapse by the Crusaders led to a fastbreak for Central Catholic and resulted in a goal, putting Fenwick behind 1-0 with about two minutes to play in the first quarter.
But Fenwick came right back with some offensive punch of its own in the second quarter. Less than seven minutes into the frame, Dunn took a pass from DelVecchio and broke free to tie the game up at 1-1. About five minutes later, Dunn set up Jenkins for a pretty lob-shot goal to give Fenwick the lead for good.
Central had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the third quarter after getting awarded a penalty kick after Fenwick was called for a hand ball in the box. Central Catholic senior Claudia Porto was chosen to take the kick against Keith, and Keith was able to make the right move to stop the shot and keep the Crusaders ahead. The save was a tone-setter for Fenwick and that momentum propeled them all the way to the win.
“(Keith) is experienced, she’s been in those situations before and we trust her there,” said Flaherty. “That save was a huge moment in the game for us.”
Next up for Fenwick (2-1-0) is a matchup with Matignon Saturday morning (10).
“We just need to keep building and keep rolling with the punches in terms of how the referees call the game,” said Flaherty. “It’s tough to make all these new calls out there, but just have to roll with it and try to do the best we can.”
