Girls Soccer: Peabody blanks Salem, wins NEC Large title

The Peabody High girls soccer team had an infusion of new players this year, but it didn’t take the Tanners long to get everyone rowing in the same direction.With its 6-0 win over Salem Wednesday, Peabody (12-0-1) captured its third consecutive Northeastern Conference Large title.”It’s exciting,” coach Dennis Desrochers said. “Especially with such a young team. It really wasn’t one of our top goals. Our first was to get into the tournament and then work on seeding ? We’re very fortunate. We came into the season with a brand-new team and a young team.”Freshman Victoria Digiacomo had three goals, Hayley Dowd and Katie Brunelle, a goal and an assist each, and Taylor Provost, one goal. Emily Manoogian had two assists. Keeper Brienna Griffin (7 saves) collected her fourth consecutive shutout, sixth overall.Salem (5-6-3) goalie Emma Titus had eight saves and Audrey Wyke was solid in the midfield.St. Mary’s 2, Austin Prep 1At Manning Field, all the scoring took place in the first half, with Molly Carey and Brianna Anderson finding the back of the net to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. The Cougars cut the lead in half before the break, but the St. Mary’s defense shut them down the rest of the way.Click here for a photo gallery.St. Mary’s (6-7-1) needs five points out of its final four games to make the tournament. Pentucket is next on the docket on Friday.”We have our work cut out,” coach Jim Foley said. “We had a great effort today. Austin Prep’s a lot better than their record.”Revere 3, English 1At Revere, the Bulldogs needed this one to stay alive in the hunt for a tournament bid, but it wasn’t in the cards. The Patriots’ Marissa Parent was a one-woman wrecking crew, scoring all three goals.English led 1-0 late in the first half, but Parent tied the game on a penalty kick and added two more for good measure in the second half. Melissa Andreani was in net for the win.”They played very well,” English coach Ed McNeil said. “We had a ton of chances.”Megan Forti scored the English (5-9-3) goal, her 10th of the season, with Mackenzie Clark getting the assist. Revere is 4-10-1.Swampscott 4, Winthrop 1At Winthrop, the Big Blue spread the scoring around with Casey Connolly, Rikki Langan, Lisa Gambale and Alexa Goldman all picking up goals. Swampscott (10-2-1) led 3-0 at the half. Erin Langan had three saves.Beverly 4, Classical 0At Beverly Airport Field, the Panthers (6-7) came out flying in the first half with Monica Casola scoring three goals and Bridget Leahy the other to take a 4-0 lead at the break. Casola and Leahy each had one assist. Hayley Lorge picked up the shutout.The Rams (1-14) played a solid second half led by sweeper Kelly Deveney. Classical plays Revere today at Manning Field.Danvers 7, Marblehead 0At Danvers, the dynamic duo of Corey Persson and Brittany Russo struck again. Both had three goals with Becky Landers accounting for the other one. Allison Tivnan, who stopped a penalty kick, was flawless in net, picking up her 12th shutout in 15 games. The Falcons are 13-0-2 with Swampscott up next on Friday.Gloucester 2, Saugus 0At Gloucester, the Fishermen netted two first-half goals and held on despite the Sachems (9-5) controlling play much of the game.”We couldn’t put the ball in the net,” Saugus coach Chris Coviello said, noting that his goalie, Melissa Twomey, played well.