Fenwick’s Emily Charette controls the ball in front of St.Mary’s Kayla Demers. Photo by Bob Roche
By Harold Rivera
Led by goals from the Charette twins, the Bishop Fenwick girls soccer team earned a 2-0 win over a tough opponent in St. Mary’s Wednesday afternoon.
St. Mary’s (4-1) came into the contest undefeated after winning the Lynn City Tournament last week and thumping Greater Lowell earlier this week.
Fenwick, their toughest opponent thus far in the young season, put the pressure on the Spartans early.
In the fourth minute, midfielder Allyson Charette found the net to give the Crusaders an early 1-0 lead. The Spartans looked to answer the goal, but it was the Crusaders who kept the pressure on St. Mary’s with another score in the 12th minute. That’s when midfielder Emily Charette, Allyson’s twin sister, found the back of the net on a corner kick to make it 2-0 for Fenwick.
Karen Guillemette, head coach of the Crusaders, said her team’s fast start was something she was hoping to see against a talented Catholic Central League opponent.
“They’re (St. Mary’s) a good team,” Guillemette said. “They’ve been playing well to start their season. It’s always a good battle between the two of us. We had yet to come out to a good start, a fast start, so it was nice to see us come out strong and settle in pretty quickly.”
The Crusaders carried the two-goal lead into the second half and never looked back as St. Mary’s struggled to get on the scoreboard throughout the contest. Jim Foley, head coach of the Spartans, said his team generated scoring chances throughout their first four games, but couldn’t create much offense against a skilled Fenwick defense.
“The first four games, we’ve been scoring a lot of goals,” Foley said. “I think maybe we got used to going out there and putting on the pressure, but that’s a testament to them (Fenwick) too. They’re a good team, great defensively.”
Fenwick’s offense made it a tough night for St. Mary’s goalkeeper Emily Stephenson, who finished the game with seven saves. Stephenson did everything she could to keep her net clean and give the Spartans a chance to climb back into the game.
“She does an unbelievable job,” Foley said of Stephenson. “She’s our senior keeper. Some of those saves were almost point blank.”
The Fenwick offense never took the wheels off, forcing Stephenson to make key saves in the latter stages of the game. In the 57th minute, Fenwick forward Jaxson Nadeau took a clean shot from ten yards out but Stephenson corralled the ball for the save. In the 74th minute, midfielder Grace Foley looked to pad the lead for the Crusaders but her shot was saved as well. Foley tried again in the 75th minute, but Stephenson leaped to tip the ball over the crossbar and deny the goal.
Guillemette said she was happy with Fenwick’s effort offensively throughout the afternoon.
“I think we played pretty well today, considering that it’s hard to play in the heat,” Guillemette said. “They worked hard, having to scramble both ways. When you’re pressuring like that, and then the counter-attack, you have to quickly drop so it feels like you’re scrambling back and forth. I think we did a good job of being able to handle that.”
Aside from their goalie’s effort, midfielder Gaby Diaz-Martinez and defensemen Jill Gentile and Morgan Mackey performed well for St. Mary’s. In the 67th minute, Gentile prevented a one-on-one opportunity as Fenwick’s Sammie Gallant made her way towards Stephenson. Gentile caught up with Gallant and booted the ball out of bounds to deny a scoring opportunity.
Up next for Fenwick is another league contest at Cardinal Spellman on Monday. St. Mary’s is also back in action on Monday when the Spartans host Arlington Catholic at Manning Field.
Foley said he feels the Spartans are capable of bouncing back with a win on Monday.
“We’re a young team,” Foley said. “This is a little bit of a wake-up. In the league, this is what it’ll be like. I think we’ll bounce back fine.”