SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott girls soccer team couldn’t have asked for a better Senior Night. Senior captains Emerson Laundry and Sydney Clark scored a goal each in a 6-0 shutout win over Gloucester at Blocksidge Field. Not only was it the Big Blue’s Senior Night, but it was also the team’s regular-season finale.
“We executed really well out there,” said Swampscott coach Norman James. “Our passing was great, our spacing was excellent and we really played our game. We had some good communication that led to some great scoring opportunities and we looked really comfortable out there. It was a great all-around win.”
Before the game, the Big Blue honored their three seniors- Jane Michigan and captains Laundry and Clark.
“They’ve all been so great, and they’ve all been leaders since they were juniors,” James said of his senior trio. “Emerson and Sydney give us so much out on the field every game, and Jane is also a key piece to the puzzle. They led the team on and off the field, set up team bonding events and done everything you could hope for a captain to do. They’re all great players and we’re going to miss them when they’re gone, but we still have hopefully a couple more games left before that happens.”
Anna Nazarenko netted two goals, while Clark, Laundry, KK Kearney and Clara Power each scored one goal. Laine Fouts and Reese Robertson each had one assist.
The Big Blue came ready to play in the first half, scoring just over 10 minutes in. Gloucester attempted to clear the ball out of its own zone, but Nazarenko jumped the passing lane and stole the ball away. She got behind the defense and ripped a hard shot on net to make it 1-0 Big Blue.
The offense slowed from there, and Swampscott didn’t score again until there was under one minute left in the half. After getting awarded a free kick, Swampscott sent a ball toward the net that got caught up in a crowd of players. Clark emerged from the scrum with the ball and fired a quick shot on net that found its way past, making it 2-0 Swampscott at the break.
Swampscott continued that momentum into the second half, scoring less than two minutes in. The goal came on another unsuccessful clearing attempt by Gloucester, and this time it was Laundry who gathered up the loose ball and knocked one home to make it 3-0. The Big Blue added two more goals midway through the half, netting two scores in a 4-minute span to push its lead to 5-0. The first goal came from Kearney on a cross-field assist from Robertson, while the second was Nazarenko’s second of the game on an assist from Fouts. Power added the final goal with just over six minutes left to round out the scoring.
Swampscott (10-6-1) now turns its focus to the Division 3 North tournament. The Big Blue have been playing well as of late, but James knows that he’ll have to wait to see what his young team is made of when the time comes.
“I think we really started to play well in our last game against Central Catholic (2-2 draw on Sunday),” James said. “We went up 2-0 in that game before we fell apart late by giving up two corners. But we’ll have those growing pains as a young team. When we’re on, we’re on. Hopefully we can continue to play well and our older players can help show the younger players what it takes to win in the tournament.”
