Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 16, 2022 Football Sachems hit hard by Pioneers in opener T By Greg Phipps he visiting Lynnfield Pioneers wasted little time in jumping all over the Saugus Sachems in the high school football season opener for both teams last Friday evening at Christie Serino Jr. Stadium. The Pioneers forged ahead by two touchdowns less than five minutes into the game and never looked back in an eventual 37-0 victory. From the start, Saugus found itself in a precarious situation on the opening possession of the game, pinned deep in its own end and having to surrender the ball on downs from inside its own 10-yard line. The ensuing punt ended up being returned 50 yards for a touchdown, and the subsequent extra-point kick produced a quick 7-0 Lynnfield lead. The advantage increased to 14-0 just minutes later when Lynnfield quarterback Tyler Adamo connected with receiver Joey Cucciniello on a 51-yard scoring play (the Pioneers’ first offensive play from scrimmage). The visitors would tally one more time before the quarter was over to grab a 20-0 lead. From there, it was pretty much clear sailing for Lynnfield, as the Sachems were unable to manage anything on offense. Saugus didn’t achieve a first down in the opening half while the Pioneers notched two more touchdowns to build an insurmountable 34-0 bulge by halftime. The one first-half highlight for the host Sachems was an interception of a deflected pass by sophomore defensive back Danny Shea that thwarted a second quarter Lynnfield drive. Unfortunately, Saugus’s offense gave the ball right back to the Pioneers by fumbling it away on the ensuing play. The Pioneers owned the field possession battle, constantly keeping Saugus deep in its own end, and, in the process, creating great field position for themselves. A shanked punt by Saugus in the second quarter led to another touchdown, as Lynnfield took over inside the Sachems’ 20 and marched it in from there. Offensively, Saugus quarterback Cam Preston faced heavy pressure in the pocket, and the Sachems’ running attack Saugus linebacker Justin Belluscio honed in on a Lynnfield ballcarrier during first half action last Friday. Saugus’s Tommy DeSimone tried to evade the tackle of a Lynnfield defender early on in last Friday’s season opener at home. struggled to get going. The Sachems’ defense did acquit itself well in the second half, giving up just one field goal. Saugus, now 0-1, is looking for its first victory since 2020. The Sachems will look to regroup when they travel to play the Northeast Metro Tech Knights in an unusual 10:30 a.m. game this Saturday. The Knights will be looking for their first win of the season after losing their opener to North Reading last week. Saugus quarterback Cam Preston scrambled out of the pocket as lineman Brenton Sullivan looked to protect him during the first half of last Friday’s season opener. Saugus girls’ soccer off to strong start By Greg Phipps H aving already gotten four games into the 2022 season, the Saugus High School girls’ soccer team has pulled out to a strong start. A four-goal outburst in the first half helped propel the Sachems to a 6-0 win over the Salem Witches on Wednesday evening at Bertram Field in Salem. The victory improved Saugus to 3-1 on the early season. All three triumphs have been resounding offensive efforts. In their other two wins, the Sachems defeated Winthrop, 7-0, in the season opener last Wednesday and pounded Gloucester, 7-2, last Friday. The team’s lone loss was a shutout setback against Masconomet on Monday. With 20 goals to their credit through four contests, the Sachems are looking like a squad that could supply plenty of offensive punch this fall. On Wednesday, Saugus was coming off a tough defeat at home to Masco earlier in the week. Madison Botta opened the scoring less than five minutes into the Salem contest when she took a feed from fellow forward and co-captain Madi Femino and put one in the back of the net for a quick 1-0 lead. It became a 2-0 game just minutes later as Botta returned the favor and assisted on a score by Femino. With about 19 minutes left in the first half, Olivia Migliori scored off an assist from Shawn Sewell for a 3-0 edge. The Sachems dented the net one last time before the half when Julianna Powers took a pass from Migliori and hit paydirt for the team’s fourth tally. The Sachems scored twice more in the second half. Co-captain Allison Justice made a nice pass to Botta, who broke in on goal and scored for the second time. Justice would collect a goal of her own when she was later awarded a penalty kick and converted to account for the fiSaugus forward Madi Femino broke past a Salem defender in Wednesday evening’s win over the Witches at Bertram Field in Salem. nal margin. The host Witches never really threatened offensively and spent very little, if any, time in Saugus’s end. Meanwhile, the Sachems dominated territorial play. Sachems Head Coach Chris Coviello praised his team’s effort with ball possession and Saugus’s Shawn Sewell navigated her way into Salem territory on Wednesday. how it was able to control the game up the sidelines. He credited freshmen Natalie Justice and Shay Sewell with strong performances in this area. Goalkeeper Tori Carter didn’t have to face much in the way of shots but did earn her second shutout in goal for the Sachems, who aren’t scheduled to resume action again until next Saugus’s Juliana Scalisi settled the ball despite pressure from a Salem defender. Wednesday when they host Marblehead at Christie Serino Jr. Stadium (4 p.m. start). Along with Femino and Justice, defenseman Lexi Rais is also one of this year’s team captains. Rais and sophomore Layla Manderson helped patrol the defensive end and keep the Witches at bay in Wednesday’s win.
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