September 16, 2019
LYNN — The fourth time turned out to be the charm for the St. Mary’s boys soccer team.
After dropping their first three games of the season the Spartans grabbed their first win Monday night with a 1-0 shutout of Cardinal Spellman in a CCL clash at Manning Field.
“It feels great,” St. Mary’s coach Mike D’Agostino said. “We started our first three games without some players who were banged up and injured. Having our team back to full squad is what we need. It’s great to get a win.
“Kevin (Perez) played great for us up front. Richie LeBrun, in the back, dominated the game. Matt Gallego played great in net. He made some great saves. That’s what we needed. We played better (Monday), passing the ball and moving the ball. It showed we needed to get our flow. It’s a work in progress and it took a couple games but we’re 1-0 in the CCL and that’s what we’re focused on.”
It didn’t take long for the Spartans to put themselves in the driver’s seat. Just over four minutes into the contest, Kevin Perez snuck one past Spellman’s goalkeeper and the Spartans were off and running with a 1-0 lead. Ryan Fraher notched the assist.
“Kevin scored a great goal,” D’Agostino said. “He charged the goalie and scored the rebound off a shot from Ryan Fraher. Ryan set that play up and Kevin was there to get the rebound. He did what he needed to do- crash the net.”
St. Mary’s goalie Matt Gallego, a senior captain, kept the 1-0 lead intact with a point-blank save a few minutes later. Other than that, the Spartans defense kept Spellman’s attack quiet in the first half.
“Our defense played way better than the first three games,” D’Agostino said. “I think fatigue set in a little bit at the end and we got a little tired. But we’re back in the groove, back in the flow and that’s what we’re looking for.”
St. Mary’s carried a 1-0 lead at halftime.
The second half didn’t bring Spellman better luck. A series of corner kicks in the first few minutes of the period couldn’t put Spellman on the board. Gallego made another point-blank save, this time with a nice leap just outside the post, with 21 minutes remaining. Spellman nearly tied the game with 9:10 to go but a handball penalty negated the potential game-tying goal. And the Spartans ran out the clock from there for the 1-0 win.
The Spartans (1-3) have a big CCL tilt on the schedule Wednesday night (7) when they travel to rival Fenwick.
“We’re two Catholic schools close to one another and it’s always a big rivalry,” D’Agostino said. “We’re excited and looking forward to it. (Fenwick coach) Tony (Enos) is a great coach, so he’s going to have a good program. We’ll switch some things up and hopefully bring what we brought here for the first 10-15 minutes of the game.
“I think we’re playing well right now. We’re looking to build some momentum and we’re looking toward Fenwick.”
By Harold Rivera