Swampscott holds off Classical

LYNN – The Classical and Swampscott girls soccer teams were even-up in fluky goals Tuesday at Manning Field. But fortunately for the Big Blue, they scored one more, and that was the difference in their 2-1 victory over the Rams.The first period was scoreless … and, for the most part, devoid of anything close to a scoring chance.?It was kind of ugly,” said Big Blue coach Ken Leeder. “Thankfully, we were playing on a turf field, with the conditions.”After a long stretch of dry, seasonal (and often above seasonal) weather, Tuesday was a wet, raw, and windy day. And that certainly affected Classical, coach Justina Alicudo said.?On this kind of a day,” she said, “you can?t just kick the ball all the way downfield. You have to go with short passes, and we really didn?t do that. I always stress basics, and we weren?t doing that.”The second half seemed destined for more of the same until Jaymie Caponigro, who?d had several good chances all afternoon, finally connected on one with 13:58 left in the game.Caponigro deked her way past one defender and straddled the football goal line as she kneaded the ball past the Classical defense. Then, she turned around and let one go that hit off the far post and ricocheted into the net, behind Ram goalkeeper Madison Angelli.?That,” said Leeder, “was a really good goal. The other two … those were strange. Fluky.”?There wasn?t much she could do on that,” said Alicudo. “Neither of the two goals was her fault.”The second one, with 6:38 to go, was downright bizarre.Classical couldn?t clear the ball out from in front of its net, and it kept bouncing back and forth until it hit the crossbar and bounced to the ground. However, the referee ruled that the ball, even though it didn?t look as if it had gone in, did indeed cross the plane and Swampscott, with Ellie Wright getting credit for the goal, was up 2-0.Classical (3-4-3) didn?t fold its tents, however. Less than two minutes after Wright?s goal, Chenysse Hill found Devyn Astuccio, who then lofted a moon shot that Swampscott goalkeeper Sam Rizzo couldn?t jump high enough to catch. Instead, it bounced off her fingertips and into the net.But that was the extent of the Classical offense. Other than that, Rizzo didn?t have too much work to do.Swampscott raises its record to 7-2-1.