RallyNorth.net

Fenwick girls fall to Wakefield

Thursday, November, 08 By Nick Turczak
Staff writer

For the Bishop Fenwick girls soccer team and their 10 seniors, the 2007 season did not end the way they had hoped. The fourth-seeded Crusaders were upset in the Division 3 North quarterfinals yesterday by No. 12 Wakefield, falling 2-0 at home.

Warriors junior forward Julia Donigian broke a scoreless tie 12 minutes into the second half when she scored on an off-angle shot that broke through Crusaders goalkeeper Jill Dean.

After a flurry of Bishop Fenwick failed free kicks, Wakefield capitalized on a Lisa Deguglielmo corner kick. Off of that kick, Donigian found Molly McGrath out front, who scored to put the Warriors up 2-0, with only 10 minutes remaining.

"This win was huge for our program. It's good to see the girls get rewarded for all their hard work," said Wakefield (10-7-3) head coach Janel Stevenson.

"I think overall we played a good game, but they're a very good team," said Fenwick head coach Karen Giullemette, whose team ended its season 16-4. "I think the difference in the game was that they finished their opportunities and we didn't."

The opening 20 minutes of the first half saw a lot of back and forth action in the midfield with minimal scoring chances.

"We were a little shell-shocked at the beginning; it took us about 10 minutes to get going. We had to adjust our alignment and make a few defensive positioning changes," said Stevenson, who singled out the play of midfielders Lisa Deguglielmo and Kelsey Delaney.

Junior captain goalkeeper Erin Jackson made nine saves in the Wakefield net to earn the shutout. Her saves included a point-blank stop on Meghan Dolan's header with time running down, and a stop on Fenwick's Elly O'Leary's semi-breakaway in the first half to maintain a scoreless tie at the time.

Guillemette was quick to point out that the Warriors were a much better team then their record showed coming in. "They play in a tough league, they play Division I opponents and they're well-prepared and well-coached," said Guillemette. The Crusaders registered a 5-2 advantage in free kicks while being outshot, 10-9.