It took a little while to break through, but once they did the Sharks left no doubt as to who the best team was.
Tatyjana Scalisi scored twice in less than two minutes as Sacred Heart blanked the Lady Vikings, 4-0, in their Monsignor Martin Athletic Association Class A soccer game that was played at Peek Field on the Nichols School Campus, Tuesday afternoon. With the victory the Sharks are now 3-0 in league play, 5-0 overall.
Facing a Nichols (1-5) squad that has already been depleted by injuries, the Sharks were able to control the tempo of play for the majority of the first half as they created several quality chances.
If not for the outstanding play of Lady Vikings goalie Anna Sauer, who stopped the first seven shots she faced, the game could have gotten out of hand much sooner.
Scalisi broke through with her first goal with 4:56 remaining in the first half. Just 1:50 later Scalisi gave her team some breathing room when she drove the ball past the diving Sauer.
“We had a lot of opportunities and we just needed to finish them cause we had a whole bunch of them,” Scalisi said.
“There was a couple chances where we could have just placed it into the net, but we kicked it over or hit it wide. Everyone was a little frustrated because we didn’t get the goal off right away, but after I got the first goal everyone settled down and we started playing as a team, instead of individuals.”
The Vikings worked hard when they had possession and actually did a fairly impressive job pushing the ball through midfield, but they simply could not get by the Sharks flat-back four defense and create a sustained, quality scoring chance.
Middle defenders Krista Tomizzi and Claire Zwack were able to consistently push the Nichols forwards to the sides and away from prime scoring angles.
“I think the biggest thing, the biggest reason, why we’re having so much success at 5 and 0 right now is that our defense is shutting everybody out,” said Sharks head coach Dr. John Dobos.
“When your defense is showing zero on the scoreboard for the last five games you know somewhere during the game you’re going to get a goal or you’re going to get multiple goals. Our strength starts at our defense and that’s both of our goalies and we basically have four or five defensemen that play. And they play as a great unit.”
Nichols coach Larry Desautels said right now it’s just about piecing the best possible lineup together.
“At this point we’re still trying to figure out where people can play,” he said.
Ten minutes into the second half Taylor DiMarco extended the Sacred Heart lead to 3-0, senior Briana LoTempio capped off the scoring with 16:42 left in the game.
Alyssa Piazza (first half) and Alex Miller (second half) split the goal keeping duties for the Sharks.
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