Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, November 8, 2019 Saugus girls lose to BF in double-overtime playoff By Greg Phipps T he Saugus girls’ soccer team entered this year’s Div. 3 North tournament on a roll, having won six games in a row. The Lady Sachems played well in their Div. 3 North first-round tilt on Tuesday night against Bishop Fenwick (BF). Unfortunately, they couldn’t produce a goal in over 90 minutes of play and that ended up being their undoing. BF’s Isabella DelVecchio scored in the second overtime of a scoreless game to lift the Lady Crusaders to a 1-0 win. The loss left Saugus with a 12-7 overall record for the season – a campaign that proved to be a rollercoaster of sorts for the Lady Sachems. Saugus started off strong this fall before hitting a rough patch and dropping five of seven games to fall to 6-6. That got turned around in earnest; however, as the Lady Sachems regrouped to go 6-0 the rest of the way. The final stretch included outscoring the opposition by a combined 20-1 margin. DefenSaugus’s Jeimmy Monroy Rodrigues charges for a loose ball as teammate Kiley Ronan trails the play in Tuesday’s playoff at Bishop Fenwick. sively, Saugus had allowed just one goal over its last 14-plus periods of play before Tuesday’s overtime tally. Offense was hard to come by on Tuesday in the foggy conditions at Fenwick’s Steven E. Donaldson Stadium. The Lady Sachems did penetrate the BF zone on a number of occasions but struggled to get off real quality shots on goal. It was much the same for BF, at least through the first half, as Saugus’s defense stood firm and made it difficult for the hosts to muster good chances. As the game wore on, the Lady Crusaders slowly took control of the territorial play and had Saugus playing in its defensive zone for much of the time. Still, the game remained scoreless through regulation and one OT period before DelVecchio’s goal ended it. Saugus forward Shaylin Groark pursues the ball in Tuesday’s double-overtime playoff loss at Bishop Fenwick. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) Saugus had perhaps its best chance to score late in the second half when forward Shaylin Groark tracked down a loose ball in front of the BF net but was robbed from point-blank range by the Fenwick goalie. Saugus head coach Chris Coviello acknowledged that having to spend so much energy defending may have impacted his team as the contest progressed. “We got a little tired toward the end,” he told the press afterward. “When you’re defending a lot of the game you get tired.” Coviello cited the effort all season from his senior players, calling them “a great group of kids.” The team’s six graduating seniors are Vanessa Andujar, Sarah McGonigle and Jill Ricupero and co-captains Groark, Jessica Nazzaro and Kiley Ronan.
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