LYNN — When you have two of the top teams on the North Shore squaring off, you’re in for a treat. And in Thursday evening’s showdown between Saugus (11-2-3) and St. Mary’s (8-4-3), it didn’t disappoint.
The Spartans, on Senior Night at Manning Field, went home with a 2-1 win over the Sachems.
But despite the win, it was far from easy.
Saugus opened the scoring nine minutes into the action. Shawn Sewell found the scoresheet from eighth grader Selena Garcia to make it 1-0.
“We knew it was going to be physical,” said first-year Saugus coach April Martinez. “Our problem the last few games is that we go up in the first half, we’ll come out strong and find a goal, and then we’re not able to secure the win. … We tied three times that way and now, we lost that way. We just need to figure out what’s going on and correct it.”
The Spartans controlled possession in the first half and had their chances. Sophie Skabeikis found Bella Owumi, whose chip beat the goalie, but was cleared off the line.
Then, late in the half, controversy struck as St. Mary’s Andrea Basta got past her defender and took the ball around the goalie. As she tried to get by the goalie, she was brought down in what looked like a clear penalty. However, the ref pointed for a goal kick, which led to Saugus closing the half with a 1-0 lead.
When asked about the potential penalty, first-year St. Mary’s coach Paddy Curran said he told his team to move on.
“I told them that it was in the past. You can’t do anything about it. We just need to come out with the same attitude,” Curran said. “I felt we could hurt them if we could get at them on the outside and that’s where our two goals came from.”
Nineteen minutes into the second half, St. Mary’s found its equalizer. Basta got downfield on the wing, beating a couple of Sachems before firing a cross across the goal to find a sliding Skabeikis for the tap-in.
“That’s the stuff we work on. We try to shift the defense to the outside and then cut it back. That goal came right from the training ground,” Curran said. “It doesn’t always work, but both goals came from the outside.”
Less than five minutes later, UMass Amherst-commit Skabeikis again found the back of the net. This time, eighth grader Angelina (Lina) Owumi brought the ball out from the defense and traveled with it 60 yards before finding Skabeikis, who did the rest through the bottom corner (2-1).
“Sophie is a born goal-scorer. If you give her opportunities in the box, she’s going to take it,” Curran said. “I was nervous when I saw Lina dribbling the ball up because she’s my center back, but the girls did a great job of filling in for her and then she had a great pass to Soph who finished it.”
The Spartans found success on the wings. That’s because Sachems’ defender Layla Manderson kept clearing everything out of the defensive zone.
“Layla was solid at the back. She led the back, she was organized, and gave 110 percent,” Martinez said. “She sacrifices everything to get the ball out of our defensive end. She’s such a threat and unstoppable back there.”
On the other side of the field, St. Mary’s found a solid partnership in Angelina Owumi and Lily Norton.
“Lina and Lily were very good and are a new partnership. It used to be Lily and Bella, but with injuries, we had to move people around,” Curran said. “Lina is a center back on my club team so I’m very familiar with her. But she’s a middle schooler, she’s 14, and she was awesome tonight. Physically, she’s so commanding and very good on the ball. You need a good connection with your center backs and her and Lily have that. They were great.”
You could say it’s always special to win on Senior Night, too. Curran spoke highly of his seniors and how they helped him settle into the job this fall.
“I’ve been lucky. I have five great captains and unfortunately, due to injuries and stuff, they haven’t played much soccer. But I’ve been lucky to have Brooke Moloney, Breanne Moloney, Issie Skabeikis, Georgia Allaire, Caroline Hauch, and Riley Maguire as very outgoing and helpful leaders,” Curran said. “They’ve helped me fit in and helped me create a connection between the players and myself, which is important since I’m the new guy here. They are also amazing with our younger teams. They’re like big sisters to them.”
Both teams will be back in action Saturday as Saugus hosts Wakefield on its Senior Night at 6 p.m. St. Mary’s travels to Pentucket for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
