Fenn Fall Sports Update--November 3, 2016

 

After outscoring opponents 38-0 in the first nine shutouts of the season, Fenn’s varsity soccer team saw its shutout success and winning streak come to a screeching halt on October 26. Visiting Fessenden School in Newton, Fenn settled for a 2-2 tie with their tough archrival. Two days later, Fenn kept its 11-game undefeated streak alive with a 4-1 win against Fay School in front of the Fenn faithful. Alex Brown opened the scoring with a nice assist to Gray Hussey for a 1-0 first half lead. In the second half, Fenn got three goals, two from Kyle Roshankish, to power the team to a 4-1 victory. 

The first brisk temperatures of the soccer season did not derail Fenn's junior varsity juggernaut, as they rolled convincingly past Fay School's JV squad in Concord on October 26. The 5-0 victory gave Fenn a sweep of the home-and-home competition between these perennial rivals.

Fenn's attack radiated from a midfield core of relatively slight ballplayers with sturdy technical skills. The ability to settle incoming balls dead at their feet enabled Harry Bertos, Ethan Mullen, Luke First, and Jesse Fernandez to dictate the flow throughout the game, and their two-touch habits generated constant attacking opportunities on the broad, fast Reynolds turf.

Devon Brandon collected a square pass at midfield to launch Fenn's first scoring strike. He carried all the way down the right touchline and hooked inward at the goal line, then threaded a fine, flat serve to Tucker Winstanley on the far side of the penalty area. Winstanley settled and directed his low, firm shot inside the far post at 13 minutes. Bertos lobbed a long corner kick into a traffic jam at the back post ten minutes later, where Jacob Chui chested it across the goal line from a distance of about a yard for a 2-0 lead.

Several narrow misses by Fay strikers at the other end of the field, including a deft chip that goalkeeper Nico Martinez could corral only after it had dropped against the goalpost, allowed the visitors to reach halftime with legitimate hopes of leveling the score after the break. Yet, the second half-hour was all Fenn.

A superb sequence of bang-bang passes, from Fernandez to Brandon to Billy McCullen, switched the ball with dramatic haste from the right touchline to the left at 35 minutes. McCullen then served to Bertos at the top of the penalty area, and he quickly lifted a handsome shot past Fay's quick, busy goalie. Winstanley pounced on a loose ball and finessed it around the keeper late in the half for his second goal of the afternoon; and McCullen slid the rebound of another Bertos bid across the goalmouth to Brandon for Fenn's fifth marker, just a moment before the referee's final whistle. The shutout result gives Fenn a 7-1 record with five matches to play.

 
On October 28, Fessenden's markedly improved Varsity B soccer team frustrated Fenn's JV squad at nearly every turn, and the teams settled for a 2-2 draw in light, chilly rain in Concord. If not for a first-minute goal from winger Matt Nicholas and a last-second save from goalkeeper Nico Martinez, Fenn easily might have limped off the wet grass on the short end of a two or three goal deficit. Pressured constantly by the Bears' big, physical lineup, the Blue & Gold spent much of the match misdirecting passes and chasing lost possession, an unaccustomed turn of events for a team that has embraced the ball-control brand. 

Ben LaPlante fashioned the opening opportunity for Nicholas with a fantastic trap of a cross from Jesse Fernandez on Fenn's first attacking foray. Sprinting goalward, LaPlante managed to hook down Fernandez's pass with a single tap of his trailing foot when the cross swerved behind him. His second touch was a firm shot that Fessenden's keeper could not control, and the rebound skittered to Nicholas, who tapped it in easily after advancing smartly from midfield to the goal area in anticipation of precisely the chance that LaPlante created. 

Fessenden replied promptly with a well-earned goal in the 6th minute, highlighting their unmistakable improvements in passing since Fenn tagged them with a 6-2 loss in West Newton two weeks ago. Fessy's well-coached boys had the best of the run of play for significant portions of the match, and they deserve much credit for their productive work on a soggy afternoon.

Harry Bertos restored Fenn's lead with a penalty kick at 16 minutes, burying his second attempt from the dot just as calmly as his first, which was called back due to a violation on the edge of the box. Fessenden notched another timely response with a powerful free kick from 25 yards that glanced off the goalpost to Martinez's left and into the net a few moments before halftime.

After the break, each side earned several decent looks at the goal, while the 2-2 deadlock loomed. Fenn attacked with resilient urgency and more agency in the closing minutes, perhaps tilting the momentum a bit, but they still needed goalie Martinez to be at his sharpest in the final seconds. A nicely-targeted pass through the midfield circle launched Fessenden's striker on a full-fledged breakaway, and he pulled the trigger from 30 yards, looking to get it over the top as Martinez approached. Had Fessy scored a decisive third goal, there could have been no legitimate complaint, for they played a very solid match and perhaps deserved more than a draw. Martinez's leaping grab of the sharp lob, however, proved to be the last action before full time, and he was mobbed by all fifteen spirited, relieved teammates.

The Blue team notched its first win of the season on October 26 at Fay School in Southborough, scoring four unanswered goals in the 4-0 shutout victory.  The win was sweet revenge on Fay, a team which had beaten Fenn in its first meeting earlier this year.  On October 28, the Blue team played to a 1-1 tie at Fessenden School in Newton.

 

The Gold Thirds team suffered a 3-0 loss to a speedy Belmont Day School on October 27.

The cross-country team showcased its talent at the 4^th Annual Northeast Conference Jim Munn Invitational at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester. Over 1,200 runners, representing 36 schools, withstood the cold, windy conditions on October 27 to compete. Fenn medal winners included Aroon Sankoh (7^th place), Tyler McGarry (9^th place) and Nathan Soukup (23^rd place). Also scoring were Lucas Garay and Daniel Wang.   

 

On November 2, Fenn hosted Rivers School and St. Sebastian School sunny 70-degree temperatures brightening everyone’s day. Fenn (37) finished in second place, just behind St. Sebastian’s (27).  Rivers School (112) came in a distant third place. Fenn’s top runners were Tyler McGarry and Nathan Soukup. 

Prior to the Munn Invitational, Fenn (27) defeated Dexter School (49) and Fay School (47) on October 26 on the Monument Street Course.

It was a rare weekend off for Fenn football, but the team spent the time practicing for the final two games of the season against Fay and Rivers.