It was a tough one to swallow for St. Mary’s boys soccer team on Saturday. The No. 7 Spartans dropped their Sweet 16 matchup against No. 10 Holliston, 1-0, at Manning Field.
St. Mary’s checked out with a strong 13-3-4 record behind first-year coach Dan Garcia, while Holliston (11-6-3) advanced to the Elite 8 against Dover-Sherborn, ranked second in Division 3.
With just 17 seconds remaining in the game’s second overtime – you can imagine the deep breaths from members of the crowd – Andrew Granfors’s header ended it. The junior captain capitalized on a late corner kick.
St. Mary’s advanced to the Sweet 16 after Tuesday’s win against No. 26 Medway. Thomas Weber scored the golden goal in that one, while netminder Cian LeVasseur put up another clean sheet.
GIRLS SOCCER
Lynnfield 4
Leicester 0
No. 3 Lynnfield took out No. 14 Leicester no problem, winning by a score of 4-0 at Pioneer Stadium. Better yet, four Pioneers tucked goals in a versatile performance from the offense.
Kaylee Barrett, Giada Antidormi, Ava Damiani, and Hannah Doherty did the goal-scoring honors. Lynnfield scored all of its goals in a dominant first half, while Victoria Minor wasn’t tested often between the pipes, but made three point-blank saves.
“Today, we scored some nice goals on set plays and that’s always huge,” said Lynnfield coach Mark Vermont. “The save on the PK about 15 minutes into the second half was huge. Victoria made a nice dive to stop it. I thought that was great.”
Now, it’s on to the Division 4 Round of 8 against No. 6 Tyngsborough (TBD).
“I don’t know too much about them, but will start watching film,” Vermont said. “Evidently, they have one forward who is very dynamic and fast, so we have to find a way to shut that kid down.”
Pope Francis 3
Saugus 2
It was a hard-fought game – one knotted, 2-2, at halftime – but the No. 9 Sachems saw their season come to an end. Saugus, which bowed out with a 14-3-3 record behind first-year coach April Martinez, was led by Madison Botta (2 goals) and the Sewell sisters of Shalyn (assist) and Shawn (assist). Pope Francis advanced to Wednesday’s Round of 8 against top-ranked Norwell (5 p.m.).
FIELD HOCKEY
Sutton 2
Lynnfield 0
Sutton, ranked No. 3 in Division 4, defeated No. 6 Lynnfield by a score of 2-0 in a regular-season matchup back in October. And in this one, history repeated itself. The Pioneers finished with a tremendous record of 14-4-3 behind first-year coach Kerri Doherty, while Sutton advanced to the Round of 8 to face No. 2 Monomoy (TBD).
“Commendable play by all of the seniors who left their hearts on the field today,” Doherty said.
