Girls soccer: Big Blue survive a battle in Gloucester

The Swampscott High girls soccer team survived a tough outing against Gloucester Wednesday, winning 2-1 at Jackson Park.”It was a very, very, very gritty game,” Swampscott coach Francesco Recchia said. “I was glad to see them win a gritty game.”Mary Ball put the Big Blue on the board with 24 minutes remaining in the first half (Jen Cleary assist). Kelly Birchmore made it 2-0 with nine minutes left in the game (Mallory McDonough assist). Gloucester cut the lead in half with 1:30 remaining, but couldn’t come up with the equalizer.Beverly 1, English 0At Beverly, the Bulldogs (1-4-1) have only given up one goal in two games, but don’t have a win to show for it (they had to settle for a scoreless tie against Salem earlier in the week). Brittany Goulet (15 saves) kept English in the hunt with midfielder Mackenzie Clark and sweeper Shawna Henry also playing well.”We just can’t buy a goal,” coach Ed McNeil said about the offensive drought.English plays Classical Saturday at 9 a.m.Salem 4, Revere 0At Revere, Jasmine Bryant had two goals for the Witches with Janelle Gallant and Holbrook Phelan adding single tallies. Salem is 3-1-1.Danvers 6, Saugus 0At Danvers, the Falcons continue to frustrate their opponents with a stingy defense (they haven’t allowed a goal in their first four games) and a prolific offense. Corey Persson scored the first two Danvers goals, Brittany Russo, the second two, and Allie Lea, the last two. All three also had an assist. Allison Tivnan (3 saves) recorded her fourth shutout.Peabody 6, Classical 0At Manning Field, the Tanners (4-0) kept their perfect record intact with help from Kirsten Nihan, who scored three goals. Taylor Provost (goal), Hayley Dowd (goal, assist) and Victoria Digiacomo (goal) also contributed offensively.There was a scary moment early in the game when Amanda Nihan was injured in front of the Classical net. Nihan was immobilized for a possible back or neck injury and taken to the hospital by ambulance, but she’s doing well, according to Peabody coach Dennis Desroches. Desroches said it appears she may have pinched a nerve or pulled some muscles.Marblehead 3, Winthrop 0At Winthrop, the Magicians had first-half goals from Mary Keroack (unassisted) and Hayley Braun with Morgan Butler adding a third after the break. Rebecca Unterbon and Kathryn DiGiammarino had assists. Keeper Cassie Rogers and midfielder Lindsay Cohen played well in the win. Winthrop (1-5) plays Saugus on Friday.Fenwick 2, Spellman 2At Brockton, the Crusaders (1-0-2) went up 2-0 with both goals by Kristin Verrette, but Spellman battled back, scoring the tying goal with 10 minutes remaining. Danielle DiNuccio had a strong game defensively for Fenwick.