LYNN — It was a night full of milestones and celebrations for the St. Mary’s girls soccer team (9-6-4) Wednesday night, as a 7-1 home win over Malden Catholic created a slew of storylines for the Spartans.
First and foremost, senior captains Kylie Kennison and Cierra Johnson got their much-deserved flowers in the Spartans’ Senior Night celebration. For coach Jim Foley, one word came to mind when talking about his seniors: leadership.
“They’re just tremendous leaders,” Foley said. “I’ve known them for a long time and they’ve always brought a lot of heart to the team. It’s been a great four years and I’m happy to say that I’ve coached them.”
The spotlight was quickly turned to sophomore Sophie Skabeikis, whose five first-half goals – yes, five – broke a St. Mary’s school record, according to Foley.
No one was more impressed than him.
“Five goals is unheard of. That’s never happened in the history of the school,” Foley said. “She’s just a scorer. She’s an outstanding player.”
The barrage marked her 12th goal across four games, and her hot streak couldn’t have come at a better time.
St Mary’s win made it nine on the season, and officially qualified the Spartans for the state tournament – the team’s goal from the very beginning.
“Getting a win on Senior Night is always important to us… but [qualifying for the state tournament] was really our number one goal,” Foley said.
The Spartans are winners of four straight, and Foley is happy to see his side coming together at the right time.
“We had some tough losses and some other games we didn’t finish, unfortunately, but we’ve been playing well… I knew we were going to turn it around. It was just a matter of all getting on the same page, and I think we did that tonight,” he said.
As if the night needed more theatrics, Brooke Moloney added two goals, securing her career 50th.
Foley added Moloney “works hard,” and with Skabeikis already reaching the 50-goal milestone, he’s proud to call himself the head coach of both girls.
“There were a lot of milestones accomplished tonight, especially getting in the tournament, but to do it on Senior Night makes it even more special because this is a really great group of girls,” Foley said.
