SAUGUS — The Saugus girls soccer team (7-2) was firing on all cylinders in its 6-1 win against St. Mary’s (4-5) on Monday evening.
The Sachems came out strong, scoring two quick goals in the opening six minutes. The first goal was scored by Shay Sewell.
The second of the two was off of a corner that was delivered by Natalie Justice and headed home by Shawn Sewell to give the Sachems a 2-0 lead.
“That’s the way you want to start the game,” Sachems coach Chris Coviello said.
Leading up to both goals there were questions about possible foul calls. Despite the controversy, St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley didn’t believe that was the reason for the loss, but said losing a key defender didn’t help.
“I think those two goals kind of set us back,” Foley said. “Fouls happen on both sides. Fouls happen, so I can’t get into that. We lost one of our best defenders in Bre Moloney today, which hurt us.”
The Spartans got back on the board with a bullet of a strike from sophomore Sophie Skabeikis. Skabeikis drilled a shot from outside of the penalty box with her left foot into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1 with 27:53 remaining in the first half.
“She’s a dynamic player,” Foley said. “We had the momentum there after the goal and if we could have got another to tie it up, then maybe it’s a different game.”
Even Coviello praised Skabeikis’ goal.
“The goal they scored was pretty far out. It was a rocket,” Coviello said. “That ball was in the net before you could even blink. After that, we tightened up a bit.”
The score remained 2-1 going into the second half.
Coviello talked about the importance of scoring the third goal, and to his calling, his team answered with a goal by Lilian Hernandez.
Hernandez was in the right place at the right time as a rebounded shot fell to her foot and she blasted it home for the Sachems’ third.
“Coming out in the second half, it’s still a 2-1 game and they were pressing. We just defended well today and took our chances,” Coviello said.
Similar to the first half, Saugus pounced on another goal to make it 4-1 with another goal from Shawn Sewell.
The goal summed up the afternoon for Saugus as the ball was worked from the defense to the attack, before a beautiful flick-on from Madi Femino to Shawn Sewell to finish the move.
“It was a team effort. The defense to the midfield and our strikers,” Coviello said. “It was an all-around team performance.”
With St. Mary’s pressing trying to win the ball back, Saugus was patient and clinical when the opportunity presented itself.
Femino and Madison Botta scored the final two goals for Saugus to end the game 6-1.
After the game, Coviello praised the Spartans and said he believes they’ll bounce back.
“They’re a very good team. They’ll keep playing hard,” Coviello said. “Coach Jim will get them to rally and head back in the right direction.”
Foley also spoke highly of Saugus.
“They’re a good team and when you make a mistake and you’re not ready to go, they capitalize,” Foley said. “They’re a very good team.”
Despite the loss, Foley is looking forward to getting back on track on Wednesday.
“With a game like this, you kind of have to erase it and forget about it and move on to the next game,” Foley said. “We’re better than the score was. We have to move on and focus on our game on Wednesday.”
St. Mary’s next game is on Wednesday against Arlington Catholic, while Saugus travels to Beverly on the same day.
