Boys do it again
Published on November 5th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - There hasn't been many obstacles that have slowed the Stoneham High School boys soccer team's progress this year, but poor field conditions almost became one last Tuesday.
With a second-round home game set against a talented Lynnfield team, the Stoneham Athletic Department needed to call a quick field-audible and elicit a little help from the Stoneham DPW in moving the game to the SHS football field or risk having to play on the road. The problem: The SHS soccer field was a quagmire of mud and water, and wasn't ready for MIAA tournament action.
Fortunately for the locals, the DPW came up big and helped the Spartans play in front of a large and shivering home crowd as the defending Division III state champs beat Lynnfield 2-0.
On Sunday, the Spartans beat Bedford in their opening game, 3-0, behind a pair of goals from Mark DeSantis.
"I just want to thank the DPW for the great job they did getting the field ready," said SHS Athletic Director Michael Lahiff. "They had to go down to Rec Park and get the goal posts and they put quick-dry on the field. We called them at 10 a.m. and they responded quickly. We would have had to play somewhere else. This wasn't easy."
The move to the football field was great for the students in the stands, but superstitious head coach Jim Carino was a little nervous about the last-minute switch.
"I am always the last to know," said a jubilant Carino after the victory. "I was a little concerned because we only had one game there and we hadn't practiced on it. But it was 0-0 in the second half and I was sweating bullets...but I knew once we got one, they probably wouldn't score. Our defense is just that strong."
Stoneham peppered the 8th-seeded Pioneers with 12 first-half shots to only one on Spartan goalie Joe Staub, but Lynnfield goalie Kyle Melanson was on top of his game.
Chris Moran had a pair of good scoring opportunities in the first half and Mark DeSantis was stoned by Melanson off a long punt from Staub.
Stoneham had to go into the teeth of the wind the second half, but the onslaught against the Pioneers continued.
Lynnfield managed to survive the first five minutes of the second stanza, and then made a push of their own.
A pair of fouls against Billy Gardner and Bobby Sargent gave the visitors two good scoring chances, but it was the second one that led to Stoneham's first goal.
With most of the Pioneers up after Sargent's foul, Stoneham's Steve Mahoney cleared space in the middle of the field for Mike DeSantis.
The junior then began racing past midfield and, like he always does, placed a perfect pass on his brother Mark's left foot. A few dribbles later, the younger DeSantis fired a laser-shot by the keeper and gave the locals the 1-0 lead with 28:33 left.
"Mike was pretty much invisible because they keyed on him," Carino said. "They knew about Mike. But (Steve) Mahoney really played well. He was the player of the game."
The Spartans pressed on and continued to carry the play as the game began to take on a more physical tone.
At one point, four Lynnfield players began to surround Mike DeSantis as both teams ran to the scene like a baseball brawl.
But Stoneham has had to face teams all season long trying to get them flustered out of their style of play, and it still hasn't worked.
With nine minutes left, Billy Gardner was rewarded for his tremendous play by taking a feed from Steve Rosenthal and beating Melanson with a shot to the lower left corner for the exclamatory goal.
Gardner has been anointed by many of his teammates as the team's most underrated player.
"He played forward all last year and now he is our stopper," said Moran. "He really marks his man well."
Star-fullback Steve Salerno also feels Gardner is having a great year, but values him for the toughness he brings to the table.
"He is our enforcer. He'll always stand up for anyone on the team," Salerno said. "But he has been a big contributor for us."
Lynnfield coach Brent Monroe knew that his team was the underdog, but he felt that his team performed admirably.
"We put a huge effort in today, but we got outplayed," Monroe said. "I knew Stoneham was a good team and they play in a good league, but that was pretty much all I knew. I made a few calls and I knew about some of their players."
Bedford came to SHS on Sunday looking to avenge a loss to the Spartans in last year's tournament.
But what the visitor's might not have been expecting was a highlight reel of individual plays from Mark DeSantis.
The lefty-sniper was clearly the best player on the field for the locals as he was embarrassing Bedford players with his dribbling skills.
The attention DeSantis got from his opponents also freed up things for good scoring chances by other players.
Mike DeSantis, Brian DeVirgilio and Moran all had a great scoring chance while Mark DeSantis had three.
"He was unbelievable today, but he has been doing that all year," said Carino of Mark. "Bedford is a quality opponent. We beat them 2-1 in the North semi's last year and their coach must be so sick of the DeSantis brothers."
Despite playing hard in their underdog role, Bedford gave Stoneham one chance late in the first half and the Spartans capitalized.
A throw-in by Gardner was misplayed by Bedford sending a loose ball to around the 25-yard mark.
Salerno then stepped up and blew a shot by goalie Brian Gleason as the locals went up 1-0 at the 30-minute mark.
Bedford opened up their offense in the second half, but that only led to more Stoneham chances.
Meanwhile goalie Joe Staub was more than ready for everything he faced stopping seven shots.
With 15 minutes left in the game, Moran and Bedford's Ben Kesaler collided going for a loose ball, but the referee pulled out a yellow card on Kesaler as the contact could have been avoided.
Mark DeSantis then banged in the free kick from just outside the penalty box to put the Spartans ahead 2-0 and a two-goal lead with this Stoneham team means lights out.
Less than seven minutes later, DeSantis was at it again.
Again set up by the brilliant play of Mike DeSantis, Mark scored another goal in which the Bedford keeper had no chance and iced the game.
"I am very proud of my guys, but Stoneham was a better team today," said Bedford coach Dave Wilson. "They beat us last year too, but today was a good game. They have some great players, and their goalie (Staub) is terrific."
Stoneham will now go to Danvers High School to face the fourth-seeded Newburyport Clippers Thursday night at 7 PM.
The top four seeds have all advanced as Bishop Fenwick and Wayland will meet in the other semifinal.
Directions to Danvers High School: 95N to 128N. Take exit 22W (Rt 62 towards Middleton). Take right onto 62. Quick right onto State Rd which turns into Liberty St. Slight left onto Burley St for 1 mile and left onto Cabot Rd. High School is on Cabot Rd.
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