THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, November 8, 2019 Page 15 Saugus boys fall to Northeast in tourney opener By Greg Phipps T hough their final season record may not have indicated it, the Saugus boys’ soccer team proved to be a worthy postseason opponent, losing a close, hard-fought 2-1 battle against second-seeded Northeast Metro Tech in their Div. 3 North first-round clash on Monday afternoon in Wakefield. Northeast entered the game sporting 12 wins while 15th-seeded Saugus had just five to its credit. The Sachems were a surprise entry in this year’s tournament but showed they belonged by giving the host Knights all they could handle. “It was a very good and close game. I thought both teams were evenly matched,” said Saugus head coach Josh Hickey. “Time of possession seemed similar; both teams had scoring chances and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately for us, we came out with the loss.” Saugus finished its season 5-14 overall after Monday’s loss. But having to play a formidable schedule against tough Northeastern Conference (NEC) opposition seemed to have prepared the Sachems for Division 3 postseason play. “It’s a tough conference, and it’s a battle for us every night,” Hickey told the press after Monday’s contest. “Going up against those teams, most of which are Division 1 or Division 2, gave us confidence going up against another Division 3 team.” After falling behind 1-0 early in the game, Saugus produced some quality scoring chances and eventually hit pay dirt when James Rodrigues, the teams’ leading goal scorer, retrieved a deflected ball about 20 feet from the Northeast goal and unleashed a rocket just unI Sachems lose tight one at Wilmington By Greg Phipps t seems the Saugus Sachems have been living on the road as of late. Coming off an away loss at Wilmington last Friday night, the Sachems travel once again to face off against Triton this Friday. Though its lone victory came on the road (a 36-18 win at Salem), Saugus hasn’t particularly enjoyed its recent away visits. A shutout loss at Lynn Classical two weeks ago was followed by a close 14-8 setback to Wilmington last week. That defeat dropped the Sachems to 1-7 on the season. Losing starting quarterback Mason Nickolas to injury in the second week has definitely impacted the Sachems’ season. The team put up 30 points in the season opener at Bedford but has since struggled to muster much offense, the one exception being the 36 points in the win at Salem several weeks ago. Saugus has scored just 15 points in its last three games. Against Wilmington, quarterback Christian Correia, who took over for the injured Nickolas, produced Saugus’s lone touchdown in the second half when he snuck one in from a yard out and then ran for the two-point conversion. To their credit, the Sachems hung tough but couldn’t come out on top in the end. The host Wildcats led 7-0 at halftime and added another seven points in the second half to emerge victorious and notch their third win of the season. Saugus head coach Steve Cummings praised the effort of his team, citing the performances of running backs Marvens Jean and Sal Franco and linebacker Kyle Surette. “We had a lot of guys step up,” he told the press. “It was a tough battle. Wilmington’s a tough football team. It was a good, hard-fought high school football game.” Saugus will look to earn its second win against Triton on Friday night. The host Vikings have lost five straight and, like the Sachems, have tasted victory just once so far. Saugus forward James Rodrigues tallied the team’s lone goal in Monday’s first-round playoff loss against Northeast Metro Tech. (Advocate Photo by Greg Phipps) der the crossbar to make it 1-1 seven minutes into the second half. Northeast ended up netting the game-winner midway through the period and was able to stave off the Sachems the rest of the way. This year marked the third consecutive season Saugus has made the postseason tournament. Before the season, Hickey talked about notching a playoff win, but that will have to wait. The coach is excited about the team’s prospects moving forward with a young corps of players consisting mostly of sophomores and juniors. “I’m proud of how the guys always fought in every game and steadily improved their play over the course of the season,” he said. “Despite our record, I thought it was a great season and I’m looking forward to next year.” Saugus QB Christian Correia scored the only touchdown and ran for a two-point conversion in last Friday’s loss at Wilmington. (Advocate Photo by Greg Phipps)
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