Nguyen Does it Again for McCann
WESTFIELD, Mass. — After three years playing on varsity for the McCann Tech girls' soccer team, Mary Nguyen is well known around the Tri-County League. The other teams in the Hornets' division might want to get to know her a little better, though, or else the senior striker is likely to run wild on the competition this year.Nguyen reintroduced herself to Westfield Voc. on Tuesday, scoring four goals in the first 23 minutes of the game to carry McCann to a 4-0 win on the road. Nguyen now has seven goals through the first two games, as the Hornets have won their first two contests by a combined score of 10-0.
The senior captain scored her first goal nine minutes into the game on a pass from junior midfielder Jocie Smith. Senior Alex Lincoln then set up her second goal less than three and half minutes later before Nguyen scored unassisted in the 19th minute of play to put McCann (2-0) up 3-0.
"For the first 25 minutes of the game, nobody could cover her," Hornets head coach Mike Dowling said. "She's always been fast and dangerous in space, but now her touch is better and she's gotten better in close quarters. After her third goal, I tried to pull her off the frontline and put her back on defense, but she scored again before I could sub her out of the game."
With a comfortable lead midway through the first half, the McCann defense took over from there. Led by the strong play of sophomore sweeper Charlea Schleich, the Hornets held Westfield to only three shots the entire game. Junior Alex Wood and freshman Abbi Luczynski combined to make three saves to earn the shutout in goal for McCann, while Megan Hinke finished with 13 stops for the Tigers.
The Hornets return to action on Friday with a home game against Commerce at 4 p.m.