MARBLEHEAD — The Swampscott girls soccer team wanted to make a statement Tuesday afternoon, and that’s exactly what happened as the Big Blue took down Northeastern Conference foe Marblehead, 4-0, at Piper Field. Swampscott was led by senior Haley Bernhardt, who scored three goals (including her 100th career goal) in the win.
“We played well defensively today, we were solid in the midfield and our forwards were dangerous out there,” said Swampscott coach Norman James. “Add to that the great goalkeeping we got, and we played a very solid all-around game today. I was very happy with what I saw out there.”
Emerson Laundry added the other goal for Swampscott, while goalkeeper Nikki Rosa completed the shutout in net.
“Swampscott definitely came to play today,” said Marblehead coach Annie Madden. “They were aggressive, they won all the 50-50 balls and they earned their win today.”
While it took more than 20 minutes to net their first goal, the Big Blue were aggressive on both sides of the ball from the opening whistle. Swampscott played tireless defense whenever Marblehead touched the ball, which led to scoring chance after scoring chance in the early going.
Then, with just under 10 minutes left in the first half, Bernhardt made an aggressive defensive play to knock the ball loose in the Marblehead zone. After settling the ball onto her foot, she booted one into the back of the net to give Swampscott a 1-0 lead.
While the Big Blue did get several other scoring opportunities throughout the rest of the first half, the two teams went into the halftime break with Swampscott leading 1-0.
The Big Blue got off to a bit of a quicker start in the second half, scoring less than 10 minutes into the frame. It started with Bernhardt, who made another great play by gathering up a loose ball in the offensive zone and firing it into the net to put Swampscott up 2-0. The goal made it an even 100 career goals for Bernhardt’s career.
The score remained there for much of the second half, with the next goal not coming until there were about two minutes left in the game. It was at that point that Laundry scored on a rebound that bounced right onto her foot in the box to make it 3-0. Just over a minute later, Bernhardt scored her third goal of the game to make it 4-0 before time ran out.
The Big Blue are now 5-3 on the year, halfway to a state tournament bid. While they seem to be in a good place, James wants the team to continue working to improve.
“We’ve just got to continue playing good, sound soccer,” said James. “We could focus on possession and holding onto the ball a bit more, but we’re continuing to get better every day out there.”
As for Marblehead (3-6), Madden knows things need to turn around all over the field, especially on the offensive end.
“We have a lot of work to do, but we have great captains who are great leaders and they’re working hard to get everyone on the same page,” Madden said. “We need to focus more on hitting feet and making our passes connect so we can keep the ball on our feet and make things happen.”
Swampscott takes on Medford Wednesday. Marblehead has a full week off before playing Beverly next Wednesday.
