Danvers boys shut out Swampscott, 3-0

SWAMPSCOTT – There is an adage in sports that a good big man will beat a good little man every time. That happened Monday afternoon, when Danvers visited Swampscott and the Falcons blanked the Big Blue, 3-0.Danvers (3-2, 3-0 Northeastern Conference) entered the game having dropped two nonleague games to Cape Ann powerhouses Masconomet and North Andover, which Falcons coach Antonio Lage called “two teams to be reckoned with once the tourney starts.”Big Blue head coach – and former Danvers head coach – Mike Chase is starting his second year at the helm in Swampscott. His team (2-1) sustained its first loss of the season.The first 10 minutes of the game were a kickball game. Both teams were sending long balls deep into the other team’s area, where the back line of defenders would clear it out. At about the 15-minute mark, Danvers was very gradually taking over and controlling the midfield. The two Swampscott strikers, Adnan Dzino and Rocky Nenshati, were having a very difficult time getting past the Danvers deep backs, Cameron Mower, captain Dylan Davis, Carter Ocko and sweeper Thomas Conway.At the other end of the field, Swampscott keeper D.J. Marquis was being forced to come up with four outstanding saves. All of those four shots should have gone in.In the 26th minute, the Falcons got on the scoresheet. The Big Blue defense misplayed a clearing pass and Nicholas Strangie got the ball deep in the right corner and passed it to Eric Martin, who was in the arc. He one-timed the pass and put the ball over the keeper’s hands and under the crossbar into the net. This made the score 1-0, Danvers.Danvers was now on fire and was attacking the Swampscott end with eight players, forcing the Big Blue into many turnovers. From this point until the end of the game, Danvers won virtually every head ball and every 50-50 ball.In the 31st minute, a long through ball to captain Christopher Ciampa found him deep in the right wing corner. He crossed the ball to Strangie, who chested the ball to the ground, took control and slotted the ball into the net ahead of the diving keeper. This upped the score to 2-0, Danvers. Nine minutes later, the half ended with no further damage done by either side.The second half was only six minutes old when Danvers scored its final goal of the game. Ciampa intercepted an errant clearing pass by the Big Blue defenders and broke down the right wing, cut into the area, drew the keeper off his line and put a blast into the far low corner to push the score to 3-0.The remaining 34 minutes were played in the Swampscott end. The Falcons missed four open nets, where the shot was either over the net or went wide. The game ended with the final score 3-0, Danvers.As he and his team were boarding the bus, Lage said, “You know what we will practice tomorrow? Hitting open nets.”Chase said, “They beat us in every phase of the game. They are the most physically intimidating team in the NEC in years.”