Fenwick beats heat in shutout of Swampscott

PEABODY – The Swampscott field hockey team not only had to deal with a heat wave on Wednesday afternoon, but a scorching hot team in Bishop Fenwick. The host Crusaders, behind a rock-solid defense and opportunistic offense, improved to 4-0 on the season with a 4-0 victory at Donaldson Field.With a game-time temperature in the mid-90s, both teams came out a bit sluggish, engaging in a midfield battle for the first five minutes. When Fenwick finally began figuring out the Big Blue?s defense, the momentum swung in its favor for good.Erin Clancy had the first chances for the Crusaders, the best coming at 16:25 when Swampscott goalie Olivia Capone (six saves) raced from her crease to beat the incoming forward to the ball.Not long after, Clancy would be rewarded for her hard work as she directed home a slick backdoor feed from Erinn Johnson at 8:23. The tally held up as the lone score of the half, but Fenwick threatened a few more times.The heat certainly left its mark on the game as evident by the frequent timeout calls and substitutions throughout the match. The Crusaders are familiar with playing in such conditions, however, according to Fenwick coach Marybeth Mahoney.?It was brutal out there, but we had similar heat during our double sessions in the preseason, so we had some experience with playing in tough temperatures,” she explained. “It really affected the whole game, but I think our mental toughness showed today.”The second half?s outcome could be attributed to that same mental toughness, or Swampscott?s total exhaustion (or a combination of both). The Crusaders would score three times in the half while limiting the Big Blue?s chances.Johnson got the first and final tally of the half, the former coming after a long downfield pass deflected off a Swampscott defender and into the open field. Johnson had plenty of time to pick her spot to the lower left corner and drive it home.The final goal of the contest came at 11:54 when Johnson banged home a loose ball sitting in traffic in front of the net. Katie Popel took over for Capone in the final 10 minutes and made four nice saves in relief.The third tally came off a wacky bounce in front of the net that went up and over Capone before landing on the goal line, where Brianna Trodella was waiting to knock it home.?We?ve been working on getting more movement in the circle and connecting on our passes to the post, which we did on Erin?s opening goal,” said Mahoney. “At the half, I told them to look for rebounds and we went out and did that well.”The Crusaders defense was fantastic all game long, limiting the opposition to just two shots on net, which goalie Bridgette Townsend had no trouble turning aside. Mahoney was thrilled with the effort on the back end.?I thought our defense worked very well together today in clearing the ball away and winning the midfield battles,” Mahoney said. “Bridgette was lights-out in net as well, and really kept us calm when they threatened in the end.”Fenwick looks to make it five in a row to open the season when it plays at Westford Academy on Friday. Swampscott (0-2-1) plays again today at home versus Malden.