LYNN — Call it a statement win. A foggy soccer game between Bishop Fenwick and St. Mary’s saw the host Spartans dominate their traditional archrival, 5-0, at Manning Field.
“We have had a tough season so far. In the Lynn tournament, in the first 20 minutes, we lost two of our senior captains and we asked freshmen to fill in,” said St. Mary’s coach Dan Garcia. “Today, those guys stepped up a lot. We started three freshmen and four sophomores. For having that much youth on the team and to come out, keep a clean sheet, especially in the back defense with two freshmen and one sophomore, it’s awesome to see.”
Truth be told, it was all St. Mary’s, which controlled possession from the start.
In the opening six minutes, Anthony Gomez scored off a loose ball in the front of the net. Gomez tucked another in the first half and dished out an assist on Max Faust’s strike. Eider Solis added to the scoring in the first half, from Faust.
The second half was a defensive battle with Fenwick executing some halftime adjustments. Goalie Luis Araujo Mendoza made a number of big-time saves in a losing effort. Edwin Flores of the Crusaders pushed the pace and tried to create scoring opportunities, while Mateo Calapiz made an impact defensively.
But in the end, St. Mary’s iced it with Aiden Martins setting up Hakeem Akande for the fifth and final goal.
“It’s momentum building,” Garcia said. “Keep going forward and bring it to the next game. I always tell them that the most important game is the next one. Just try to play the best 80 minutes we can.”
On the Fenwick side of things, coach Julius Pertillar admitted “We just ran into a really good St. Mary’s team that was a little bit better than us right now.”
“To be honest, my boys are still working. [We] still have a young team that is learning how to play a certain style and St. Marys was just better today, so I have to take my hat off to them, but my boys are working hard,” he said. “That was our first loss of the season, so we have seen success. We just ran into a better team today.”
When asked what the message to his team was after its first loss, Pertillar kept things simple.
“Keep your heads up and keep working hard because we are right back at it, so lick your wounds and get ready for the next game,” he said.
Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism
