CM finally gets a win against St. John's Prep
Last year Catholic Memorial beat BC High in boys' soccer for the first time in a quarter century. This season, CM's next dragon to slay was No. 8 St. John's Prep. After being blanked by the Eagles in the EMass final, 2-0, a year ago and another 2-0 blanking last month, the Knights turned it around against their Catholic Conference rivals.
First the first time in program history (starting in 1975), the Knights beat the Eagles, 2-1, in West Roxbury last night.
"It's a big step for the program," said third-year coach John Finn. "Last year we beat BC High for the first time in 25 years. We're slowly building our soccer program."
CM (7-6-1) got on the board first, scoring 15 minutes into the game on a header by senior Eric Johnson, who took a nice cross from the right side by David McCoy.
The Knights added their second goal seven minutes into the second half. Senior Jeff Stone launched a free kick from outside the box that McCoy headed past the Eagles goalie.
The Prep (8-2-7) got on the board a minute later.
Thanks to superb defense by midfielders Andy Thorn and Steven Sousa, CM made the one goal stand up. Sophomore goalie Connor Askins had 12 saves.
The Knights are 5-1-1 in their past seven games and have three remaining, against Walpole, Marblehead, and Braintree. CM needs to win one to qualify for the state tournament, and if it does it'll be the program's first back-to-back appearances.
South Shore: Carver blanked Abington, 6-0, to claim the league title. Victor Vainbrum and Keith Hartnett each scored two goals.
Nonleague: Luis Mattos scored a hat trick, tallying his 20th goal of the season and 54th of his career, in Dennis-Yarmouth's 6-1 win over Martha's Vineyard.
Girls' soccer
Bay State: Junior Sarah Macki scored two goals to power Dedham to a 5-1 victory over Norwood to clinch the league championship . . . Needham qualified for the state tournament with a 2-1 win over Newton North.
Catholic Central: Trinity Catholic registered its highest goal tally of the season, beating North Cambridge Catholic, 4-0. Junior Molly Stone contributed offensively and defensively. She played part of the game in goal (10 saves), then switched positions and scored a goal.
Mayflower: Globe All-Scholastic Jessica Gray had two goals and an assist to give her 150 career points as Sacred Heart (16-0) routed South East Regional, 7-0.
