PEABODY — The Bishop Fenwick girls soccer team has been rolling ever since dropping its first game of the season earlier this month, and that roll continued Monday afternoon with a 5-0 shutout win over rival St. Mary’s at Donaldson Stadium. The victory now puts the Crusaders’ winning streak at six games.
“I think at this point in the season, the girls are just starting to click out there on the field,” said Fenwick coach Steve Flaherty. “A lot of these girls play together at the club level as well and a lot of that soccer didn’t happen over the summer, so I think a lot of us got off to a bit of a slow start. I think as we keep playing together, we’re going to continue to become more cohesive.”
Ally Mitchell scored two goals to lead the way for Fenwick, while Kiera Morgan, Molly Jenkins and Isabella DelVecchio each had one goal. Ella Morgan and Elani Gikas each had two assists in the victory, while Jenna Durkin played well on defense and goalkeeper Claudia Keith earned the shutout in net.
“It was a really good game for us overall, probably the best one we’ve played all season,” said Flaherty. “St. Mary’s came out on fire and challenged us early, but we were able to withstand that and play well. It’s always great to go up against a rival and get a win.”
For St. Mary’s, Susannah Cornell, Julia Nickolau, Meghan Lovett and goalkeeper Eliza Brown played well in the loss.
“We came out strong and went right at them, and that gave us some scoring chances early on,” said St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize on those chances and we made mistakes that Fenwick did capitalize on. When you play a good team like that, you have to cash in on your chances and you have to limit your mistakes.”
Fenwick got the scoring started just five minutes into the game, going ahead 1-0 thanks to a tally from Kiera Morgan on a rebound after an initial shot from Ella Morgan was knocked aside.
The score remained there through the end of the first and through much of the second quarter, until Mitchell scored her first of the game on an assist from Gikas with just one minute to play in the second to make it 2-0 Fenwick at halftime.
The Gikas-Mitchell connection hooked up again early in the third quarter to make it 3-0 Fenwick, then Jenkins made it 4-0 early in the fourth quarter on an assist from Ella Morgan. DelVecchio capped the scoring with just over two minutes to play to secure the victory for the Crusaders.
St. Mary’s (3-4-1) travels to Arlington Catholic Thursday (3:30).
“I think the key for us going forward is just being a little more consistent and limiting our mistakes out there,” said Foley. “We play in a league where there are no bad teams and you have to be on your A-game every night, and I think that will come for us in time.”
Fenwick (6-1) hosts Austin Prep Wednesday (4).
“I keep challenging the girls to go out there and get the job done on the field each day, and they keep rising to the occasion,” said Flaherty. “We just hope to be able to continue this level of play through the rest of the season.”
