LYNN — There was lots of scoring between Bishop Fenwick and St. Mary’s on Wednesday night, but the Crusaders left Manning Field victorious in a 14-10 final score.
Although the Crusaders were down 2-0 early, they kept their poise and began to chip away at things.
Fenwick’s first goal defined the word unselfish. Anthony Sasso found Tyler Mullen in front of the crease who slipped it in to cut the lead in half (2-1).
“I loved the off-ball movement,” Fenwick coach Dave MacKenzie said. “We’ve been working on that a lot in practice, so it was nice to see them put it together in the game.”
A few minutes later, Mullen returned the favor, assisting Sasso who fired it home from the center of the crease to tie it up 2-2.
MacKenzie was full of praise for Mullen.
“I loved his engagement,” MacKenzie said. “When he’s engaged and ready to go, Tyler is a very dangerous player. Tonight was a good example of that.”
Fenwick finished the quarter on a 6-1 run – good enough for a 6-3 lead to end the first quarter.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, Fenwick’s offense was firing on all cylinders, largely in part to its face-off man Luke Connolly. Connolly controlled the game and killed any momentum the Spartans had after a goal by winning face-offs.
“It’s early, but he can easily be all-conference,” MacKenzie said. “He’s just an animal. I don’t know what else to say.”
Those extra possessions helped Fenwick get out to a 13-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter. There’s one thing about this young Spartans team, however – they don’t give up.
After a Fenwick goal to make it 14-6, the Spartans rallied off four straight goals, two of which came from sophomore Joey Calder.
Calder’s first goal came from 14 yards out, and the second from 10 yards, much to the pleasure of coach Wayne Silva.
“He’s a sophomore leader among the group. He’s a good hockey player, lacrosse player, and overall good athlete,” Silva said.
Silva was happy with his team’s offense and never-quit attitude.
“I liked the battle we had,” Silva said. “We have a bunch of kids with heart. We’re playing more of a hockey style, so our offense is pretty free-flowed. I liked our offense today. We scored 10 goals today and 10 goals last game.”
Despite the win, MacKenzie believes his Crusaders can continue to improve.
“[I’m] happy to get the win. [We] also showed a lot of stuff we need to work on, but overall, a win is a win,” MacKenzie said.
The Crusaders’ next game is Friday when they host Triton at 5:30 p.m., while the Spartans travel to Arlington Catholic the same day for a 4 p.m. matchup.
