Peabody 11-8

10
Girls
soccer
on a
Crusade
By Harold Rivera
PEABODY — Monday afternoon’s
Division 3 North quarterfinal tilt between
No. 5 Northeast and No. 4 Bishop
Fenwick was over shortly after it started.
The Crusaders scored three goals within
the first 10 minutes and never looked
back, cruising to a 6-0 win at a rainy
Donaldson Stadium.
With the victory, Fenwick advanced
to Wednesday night’s (7) sectional semifinal
against No. 1 Austin Prep. A familiar
Catholic Central League foe, Austin Prep
handed Fenwick two of its three losses (both
by one goal) during the regular season.
“Austin Prep’s a good team,” Fenwick
coach Steve Flaherty said. “They’re a
good squad. It’s always a battle when we
play them. We’re looking forward to it.”
Senior striker Marissa Orlando and
freshman defender McKenna Gilligan
led Monday’s win with two goals apiece.
Senior midfielder Madison Woods and
freshman striker Jordan Morris added one
goal each.
Junior striker Madison Csogi dished
two assists, while Woods and Samantha
Gallant each tallied one assist.
Freshman goalkeeper Claudia Keith
earned the shutout win.
The Crusaders set the tone early and
placed Northeast in an unideal 3-0 deficit
out of the gate. Orlando scored on an
assist from Woods five minutes into the
game for the first goal of the afternoon.
Csogi set Orlando up for the second goal
By Mike Alongi
TEWKSBURY — The Bishop
Fenwick field hockey team’s season
came to a close Friday afternoon,
losing to top-seeded Watertown, 4-0,
at Victory Field in the first round of
the North Division 2 tournament. The
Crusaders had their hands full from
start to finish against the 9-time defending
state champion Raiders, who
went on to defeat Ipswich, 5-0, in the
quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals
where they will take on No. 4
Lynnfield (15-3-1) Thursday, Nov. 8 at
Reading.
Fenwick coach Marybeth Mahoney
knew the Crusaders would enter the
Watertown game as big underdogs, she
also knew that in order to be the best,
one must beat the best.
“(We knew) it was going to be
tough, but we just have to keep playing
as a team like we have been,” said
Mahoney.
The No. 17 Crusaders opened up
the Division 2 North tournament on a
high note on Oct. 31, taking down No.
16 Tewksbury, 3-1, in the preliminary
round on the road at Tewksbury High.
The Crusaders, who’ve had trouble
scoring goals in recent games, were
able to score first and never looked
back.
“I think when we get out in transition
and turn our defense into offense
we have a much better time scoring the
ball,” said Mahoney. “We’ve really
been focusing on our offense in practice
lately, so it’s good to see it pay off
with three goals today.”
Fenwick got one goal each from
Molly O’Hare, Grace Morey and
Isabella Modica, while Nicole Modica
and Katherine Clancy each had one
assist. On the defensive side of things,
Stephanie Sleriti played a solid game
and goalkeeper Lauren Wilkinson
played well in net.
“Our defensive effort was really
solid from start to finish,” Mahoney
said. “We played good team defense
and picked each other up if anything
got through. It’s been one of our strong
points all year and we’re going to need
it to stay that way going forward.”
Fenwick’s offensive started slow, as
Tewksbury spent the first 10 minutes
dominating time of possession. The
Redmen got a number of shots on goal
in that time, but Wilkinson kicked each
attempt away.
Just over halfway through the first
half, things started to turn in Fenwick’s
favor. The Crusaders began to keep
possession all the way up the field
and generated scoring chances of their
own, putting Tewksbury back on its
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 NOVEMBER 8, 2018
PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE
Madison Csogi, left, battles with Northeast’s Karen Yepes for the ball.
Csogi had two assists in Monday’s game.
of the game two minutes later and Woods
cashed in on another Csogi assist to boost
Fenwick’s lead to 3-0 with 30:06 left in
the opening half.
Flaherty said his Crusaders looked forward
to playing in the state tournament
after a strong regular season and they’ve
proven it with back-to-back stellar performances
during the first two playoff games.
“The girls have been waiting for this
challenge,” Flaherty said of the state tournament.
“Especially the seniors because
this is their last ‘hoorah’ in high school
soccer. They’re looking forward to it.”
Gilligan found the back of the net
twice (with 16:30 and 9:28 remaining
in the first half), once on an assist from
Gallant, to put the Crusaders well-ahead
at 5-0. That’s where it stayed at the end of
the first half.
Morris sealed the scoring two minutes
into the second half when she dribbled
the ball the near the far sideline, created
her own opening and fired a shot into the
back of the net for the 6-0 Fenwick lead.
“I definitely liked when we played
the ball to the feet and things like that,”
Flaherty said. “That’s what I’ve been
harping on all year.”
With the heavy lifting taken care of,
the Crusaders didn’t have to do much
the rest of the way. Fenwick ran out the
remaining 38 minutes and cruised to its
6-0 victory.
The Crusaders will take the field for
practice Tuesday afternoon in preparation
for Wednesday’s semifinal against Austin
Prep at Manning Field. The Cougars
sealed their spot in the sectional semifinal
with a 1-0 win over Lynnfield Sunday afternoon
in the quarterfinal round.
“Austin Prep knows us well, we know
them very well,” Flaherty said. “It’s
going to be a good game and it’s going to
be at a great field at Manning.
“We played Austin Prep twice and they
beat us both times by one goal,” Flaherty
added. “It’s going to be good competition
for us, for sure. We’re looking forward to
it.”
Northeast ended the season with a 14-
4-2 mark.
End of the line for field hockey
heels. Eventually, with just over 13
minutes left in the half, Clancy sent a
pass over to a wide open Morey, who
buried it in the back of the net to put
Fenwick up 1-0.
Despite a number of opportunities
on both sides in the final minutes of
the half, neither team could break
through and the score remained 1-0 at
the break.
In the second half, it was Tewksbury
that struck first. Just over 12 minutes
in, Hannah Knoops took control of
the ball near midfield and raced up
the right side. She then sent a perfect
crossing pass into the circle, where
Ryan Quinn was crashing the net.
Quinn quickly set up and smacked a
one-timer into the back of the net to tie
the score at 1-1.
But the score didn’t stay there
for very long. Just 45 seconds later,
Fenwick regained its lead when
O’Hare crashed the net to knock home
a rebound, making it 2-1 Crusaders.
Despite a number of quality scoring
chances for Tewksbury over the final
20 minutes, the Fenwick defense stood
tall and didn’t let anything into the net
the rest of the way. Then, with just
under six minutes remaining in the
game, Isabella Modica scored on an
assist from Nicole Modica to seal the
3-1 victory for Fenwick.
Fenwick
football
ousted
By Daniel Kane
STONEHAM — The No. 4 Bishop Fenwick
football team ran into the hard running game
of No. 1 Stoneham Thursday night, falling
48-20 in the Division 6 North semifinal at
Stoneham High.
“I don’t think anything went wrong with our
game plan,” Fenwick coach Dave Woods said.
“I think they are just a good team. We knew it
from the time we saw them that they’re good.
They block well, they’re physical and they
have great running backs. Just a tough team to
stop and they are going to be a tough team to
stop going forward, that’s for sure.
“I have no shame in losing to a team that’s
better than you,” Woods added. “They are
better than us, that’s all you can say.”
The Stoneham offense was led by the running
back tandem of Seth Russell (15 carries
for 140 yards and four touchdowns) and
Christos Argyropoulos (11 carries for 139
yards and two touchdowns).
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Woods said of
trying to slow down Stoneham’s offense. “We
have played teams running the same offense
and shut them out. But they are big, physical
and good. I mean, those guys are well coached
and the offensive line, you could see it on film.
We knew coming in they were good.”
Crusaders quarterback Cory Bright went
19-for-28 passing for 193 yards and two
touchdowns with the bulk of his passes going
to wide receiver George Fiskatoris (11 catches
for 111 yards).
The Spartans started fast, capitalizing on an
interception with a 63-yard touchdown run by
quarterback Deshaun Chase to put Stoneham
ahead 8-0.
Fenwick was able to answer when Bright
connected with Joe Rivers for a 19-yard touchdown
pass to cut the Stoneham lead to 8-7, but
that was as close as the Crusaders would get.
Stoneham scored on its next four drives
thanks to three touchdown runs by Russell
and one from Argyropoulos. Meanwhile the
Spartans defense shut down Fenwick’s offense
giving Stoneham a 34-7 lead at the half.
“It was the same kind of things on offense,”
Woods said. “They were physical up front
and we had a tough time. We missed on a few
passes early but I don’t think that really would
have changed the outcome. They were good,
physical and athletic in the second level.
“We said at halftime, ‘It really has nothing
to do with the score of the game it has to do
with how you’re going to react and how you’re
going to respond,’” Woods added. “I thought
we fought and played hard the entire game but
we could have put 13 or 14 guys on the field
and I think they still would have scored.”
The second half was much of the same with
the Stoneham running game eating away at
the clock , and Russell and Argyropoulos each
adding one more touchdown on the ground.
The Crusaders added touchdowns on a 62-
yard run by David Cifuentes and a 10-yard
pass from Bright to Stefano Fabiano to cut
the Stoneham lead to 48-20 before the final
whistle.
“We were not as perfect and as crisp as
we have been,” Woods said. “There were a
couple of chances that if we hit them, it may
have been a little different. I don’t think it’s
going to change the outcome of the game but
it would have definitely made it a little more
interesting.”