LYNN — St. Mary’s field hockey team (9-2-1) had it going early and often in a 5-0 win at Manning Field. Add a strong defense and some key stops from junior goalie Tabby Lopes, and it was all Spartans.
The offense didn’t waste much time after the opening whistle. Sophomore Alyssa Norden – who you could say is known for big goals, harkening back to the girls hockey championship earlier this year – put one in to make it 1-0 after the first quarter.
Junior Ava Korisianos joined the fun, tucking one in the second quarter to bring the Spartans into halftime with a comfortable 2-0 cushion.
Back to Norden, who was a problem for Stang all evening. She added two more goals in the third quarter to net a hat-trick and, more importantly, give the hosts a commanding 4-0 lead.
And as the third quarter was winding down, junior Karina Martinez put in a loose ball in front of the cage (5-0). The fourth quarter was a defensive battle with the Spartans standing firm to preserve a shutout.
St. Mary’s played hard until the final whistle, making big-time plays on both sides of the ball.
“Our girls battled hard,” said St. Mary’s coach Victoria Sanders. “Bishop Stang is a really good program and has been a really good program for a while. We are not new to the CCL (Catholic Central League) anymore, so I am really proud of the growth and leadership under our six seniors. The girls battled from start to finish and that’s all I could ask of them.”
St. Mary’s had some girls step up. Sanders made sure to highlight a few postgame.
“Today, Katy Sarazen, who is one of our senior leaders… was a little hurt toward the end of the game, but she really is a big part of our offensive drive, along with Ava Korisianos, Alyssa Norden, and Camdyn Driscoll,” Sanders said. “Our three forwards were really hungry to score today.”
With the win, Sanders’ message to her team was simple: “Stay hungry.”
“Keep going,” she said. “This is only the beginning of the second half of the season. I am just proud of them.”
St. Mary’s visits Bishop Feehan (Attleborough) at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday to try and hand the Shamrocks some bad luck.
Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism
