SWAMPSCOTT — Despite fighting back to get within one in the second half, the Swampscott boys soccer team didn’t quite have enough in the tank Monday afternoon in a 5-3 loss to Medford at Blocksidge Field.
“We were a little slow coming out in the first half, but we were able to get some momentum going in the second,” said Swampscott coach Michael Amaral. “On the whole, we had more intensity in the second half, but it came a little too late for us in this one.”
Cameron Lau led the way for the Big Blue with two goals, while Herschel Muntui scored one goal. Jospeh Varghese had one assist in the loss.
Medford got two goals apiece from Aaron Vaz and Kendy Prince, while Iago DeSousa-Vieira had one goal.
The Mustangs came out in aggressive fashion early on, taking several runs at the Swampscott net within the first few minutes of play. Fortunately for Swampscott, goalkeeper Kevin Coffey made several diving saves to keep Medford off the board.
Eventually, however, that good fortune ran out. After another diving save by Coffey with just under 26 minutes left in the first half, the ball bounced out into the middle of the box to a waiting Prince, who had an easy wide open net to shoot at to make it 1-0 Medford.
Swampscott was able to answer fairly quickly. About four minutes after Medford’s opening goal, the Big Blue took advantage when the Mustangs were called for a hand-ball in the box, resulting in a Swampscott penalty kick. It was Lau who took the PK, and after a great misdirection fake he found the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
But it was the Mustangs who were able to take the momentum into the halftime break, as Vaz found DeSousa-Vieira with a nifty pass to give Medford a 2-1 lead at recess.
Medford continued that momentum right into the start of the second half, mainly thanks to the stellar play of Vaz. After getting an assist to close the first half,Vaz came out in the second half and scored two goals in less than two minutes, both of them coming less than five minutes into the second half. When the dust settled, Medford held a 4-1 lead.
Swampscott still had some fight left in it. The Big Blue were awarded another penalty kick with just over 33 minutes left after Lau was taken down inside the box. He converted once again on his PK opportunity, cutting the deficit to two goals. After Muntui scored on a great assist from Varghese, it was a one-goal game at 4-3 Medford.
In the end, it was the Mustangs who were able to make the big play at the end of the game. With just over 14 minutes to go, Prince scored his second goal of the game off a corner kick to make it 5-3 and essentially seal the win for Medford.
“We just need to keep up the intensity from the first whistle until the last whistle, we can’t take time off,” Amaral said. “When we do that and keep the energy up, good things come from that.”
Swampscott (2-6) takes on Salem Wednesday.
