Swampscott girls soccer opens NEC season with victory over Saugus

SAUGUS – Prior to their game at Anna Parker Field on Tuesday, the Saugus girls soccer players and their parents took a moment to unveil a banner honoring the late Saugus girls coach Ted Moriello.Moriello was the head coach from 1989 to 2008. He died during the Thanksgiving season after coaching his girls into another state tourney.In Tuesday’s game, which Swampscott won 2-0, there were two new coaches.Chris Coviello was the Saugus boys coach for the last two years and now takes over the helm of the girls team.Francesco Recchia, meanwhile, started his first game as the Big Blue coach, replacing longtime coach Fred Day.On Tuesday, Saugus played kick-and-run while Swampscott, using only three defenders and as many as five midfielders, controlled the game for the full 80 minutes.Click here for a photo gallery from the game.The three Swampscott defenders, captain Erin Langan, Lisa Gambale, and Robin Herlihy, shut down the Saugus attack long before the ball got to freshman keeper Bridget Genoversa-Wong. The keeper had a few saves, with most Saugus shots coming from 30-40 yards out. The Saugus attack was mainly to get the ball to speedy senior wing Alyssa Wilkie.The Big Blue opened the scoring at the 15-minute mark. Langan crossed the ball from the right side to sophomore Taylor Eaton, who blasted a hard-hit shot from 25 yards out that went into the net over the head of Sachem keeper Melissa Toomey.The rest of the half was played primarily in the Saugus end. The half ended with the score 1-0, Swampscott.In the 45th minute, Saugus’ best opportunity came on a corner kick that was headed by a Sachem towards the low left corner. It looked for sure that the head ball would tie the game. Genoversa-Wong dove across the goal mouth and just managed to get a couple of fingers on the ball to deflect it wide, where a Swampscott defender cleared the ball out of trouble.In the 54th minute, Swampscott put the game away.Carly Hayes fired a shot at the Sachem keeper, and she made a nice diving save. The rebound went to senior Jen Cleary standing in the area about eight yards in front of the net. She put it in over the keeper.For the remaining time, Swampscott controlled the play, and when the whistle blew for the end of the game, the Big Blue walked off with a win.After the game, Recchia said, “Our skills are very good, as is our passing. This shows how hard the girls worked during the preseason.”Swampscott is now 1-0 and will play Winthrop later in the week.Coviello was not pleased with the Sachems’ showing.He said, “We stood around and watched them go right by us. We lost every 50-50 ball. We have one day to improve as we will play Gloucester here on Thursday.”