Nichols Tops St. Mary’s, Lancaster

Nichols strengthened its hold on 1st place in the MML A school division with a 5-1 victory over the always-challenging St. Mary’s eleven. Playing without the league’s top scorer, Shae O’Rourke, St. Mary’s would face a second setback when they saw Nichols Linda Ullmark arrive after being cleared to play after her recent nose surgery.

Despite their situation, St. Mary’s opened the scoring and held the 1-0 lead until the second half. “We were in control in the first half but couldn’t finish,” said coach Larry Desautels. “They are always dangerous, and though they had only a couple countering opportunities they finished, and we were in the hole.”

Early in the second half, senior Zaineb Ahmed scored on a hard shot from the right side of the box, on a perfect cross by Mirann Gacioch who had led a left sideline rush from midfield. Minutes later Gacioch beat everyone down the same side and let go a rocket into the upper corner, from thirty yards out. Linda Ullmark then took a ball at midfield and broke three defenders before finishing from the top of the box.

Keeper Grace Laski made some crucial saves, while her teammates were building the lead on the opposite end of the field. “Grace attacked the ball a number of times, often taking the ball off an opponent’s foot it seemed,” said Desautels. “She did her job to keep her team in the lead.”

Just twenty minutes into the second half, Sierra Warren widened the Nichols lead with a header just below the crossbar, after Gacioch delivered another beautiful cross from the left. With fifteen minutes remaining, Ullmark threaded a perfect through-pass to Gacioch, who scored her 12th of the season