RallyNorth.net

Wed, Sep 12, 2007 06:00 PM @ Gloucester

Team	Final
Saugus	0
Gloucester	4

Fishermen fight for hard-earned win, blank Saugus

Wednesday, September, 12 By Nick Curcuru
Staff writer

GLOUCESTER | Normally a soccer score of 4-0 would indicate a blowout.

But in Gloucester's 4-0 victory over Saugus last night at Newell Stadium, that was not the case. The Fishermen defense stopped numerous second-half scoring chances for Saugus, and caught a few breaks to come away with the victory.

Gloucester (2-0) will now travel to Masconomet for a showdown with the Chieftains on Saturday (10 a.m.).

"The score is generous to us," said Gloucester coach James Cook. "This was a close game, they had some good scoring chances that we were able to get out of. This was a tough game against a much improved opponent. Saugus was very physically fit and they never gave in."

Gloucester opened up the scoring in the third minute, when Frank Taormina scored on a cross-field pass from Nick Lococo. Luke Cosgrove gave the Fishermen an insurance goal when he scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute.

The Fishermen appeared to be cruising with a 2-0 halftime lead, dominating the pace of the play and keeping constant pressure on Sachems goaltender Joey Meuse.

However, the second half was a completely different game. Saugus put a lot of pressure on Fishermen goalie Dom Braga, but they could not come away with a goal. Braga and the defense, led by Theon O'Neill. turned away the Sachems' attack every time they appeared to be taking control.

Gloucester took a 3-0 lead in the 57th minute when Lococo scored on a penalty kick. Sean Reardon would ice the game in the 77th minute when he scored on a pass from Shane O'Neill. Cook lauded Reardon for his individual effort and his improvement as a soccer player.

"Sean did a perfect job holding off his man on his goal," Cook said. "He has really come around as a soccer player in addition to being a good athlete."

Despite the win the Fishermen believe that they did not turn in their best performance.

"We didn't play as strong as we could," Lococo said. "We were forcing the ball too much and running ourselves out. We need to let the ball do the work and play through the middle of the field."

The Fishermen held their own, in a game that was very physical. Physical play is very common at Newell Stadium because it is the most narrow field in the Northeastern Conference.

"The NEC is a very physical conference so we are used to games like this," Cook said. "We can give it and we can take it. That is the nature of the conference. We will see a lot more of that."

All in all, the Fishermen were happy to come out with a win and they are looking forward to playing Masconomet, who Cook says is one of the best teams in the state.

"We need to play better than we did tonight if we want to beat Masco," Lococo said. "We need to have some good practices, these next few days will be crucial."