SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott girls soccer team caught everyone by surprise last season. With new coach Norman James guiding the Big Blue, Swampscott went 12-5-1 during the regular season, captured the Division 3 North sectional crown and gave Norwell a battle in the state semifinal before falling in a season-ending 3-0 loss.
The key to last season’s success?
“I think our six seniors were big time,” James said. “Those six seniors helped that young group get to where they were.”
The Big Blue graduated a talented senior core that included Nikki Rosa, last year’s goalie, and Haley Bernhardt, one of the top goal-scorers in the Northeastern Conference. Bernhardt’s now playing women’s soccer at Division II Bentley.
“We lost Haley but I think we’re going to score goals with different players this year,” James said. “We relied on her a lot last season.”
Grace DiGrande and Maddy Foutes, who brought senior leadership to the team last season, also graduated.
“Those shoes are going to be big to fill,” James said, “but I think I found the players to fill those shoes.”
Swampscott has just two returning seniors this season in midfielder Sydney Clark and forward Emerson Laundry. Clark and Laundry, along with junior center-mid Mackenzie Kearney, will captain the Big Blue.
“Those three played in so many minutes of so many big games last season,” James said. “They wanted to be on the field. They showed they wanted to give it their all for the team. They sacrificed.”
Also projected to play key minutes are junior back Aislinn McCarran, junior center-back Lily Raymond and sophomore forwards Grace and Maddie Hudson. Freshman midfielder Laine Foutes has shown promise during tryouts, as has freshman goalie Lilian Gosselin. Gosselin has been named the team’s starting netminder.
“(Gosselin) has length, height, good hands,” James said. “She’s athletic, she can play with her feet. She’s the goalie of the future at Swampscott. We have a couple of sophomores and juniors but she beat them all at tryouts. That’s the more important thing. She knows it’s not going to be an easy job but she’s ready for the challenge.”
Although Swampscott will carry a fairly young roster (five freshmen on varsity), James isn’t too concerned with varsity inexperience. It comes down to skill and technique, and that’s where Swampscott aims to excel.
“We’re going to be technical,” James said. “We’re going to move the ball around and if you want to move the ball around, you have to be technical. They’ll continue improving. Some of them will start, some will come off the bench. I believe freshmen can make an impact.
“Sophie DiGrande scored a big goal for us on a header in the tournament last year as a freshman. We lost her to an injury from basketball season. Giving a young player an opportunity to shine is a good thing. Why not let them do it?”
Swampscott will play a challenging schedule this year. In addition to NEC tilts against tournament mainstays in Beverly, Danvers and Peabody, the Big Blue have non-conference games with Amesbury and Central Catholic.
“We don’t look at anyone and think it’s easy,” James said. “We come prepared for a battle. We’re focused on making the playoffs first. Every game is a big game.”
Swampscott opens the season Tuesday (3:30) when it hosts Salem at Blocksidge Field.
“The girls are very excited,” James said. “A lot of them are just eager because the ones who were here last year learned a lot. The ones coming in this year see how focused the girls are. They’re hungry for playing time.
“Last year was a surprise to everyone. No one talked about Swampscott much and we surprised everyone. We won’t surprise anyone this year. People know Swampscott’s coming. They know we’re coached hard and they know we play hard. They’re going to see us coming.”
Joining James on the coaching staff are Nina Rogers (varsity assistant) and Archie Banderas (JV coach).
