MARBLEHEAD — The Marblehead girls soccer team scored an early goal and rode it all the way to victory Tuesday afternoon, knocking off Northeastern Conference rival Swampscott by a score of 1-0 at Piper Field.
Anna Rigby scored the lone goal in the win for the Magicians.
For Swampscott, the back line of Grace Hudson, Maddie Hudson, Aislinn McCarran and Victoria Quagrello all played well in the loss.
“It was just a great soccer game, and it always is when these two teams meet on the field,” said Swampscott coach Ken Leeder. “We came out and played well for the whole game, but the bounces just didn’t go our way this time. Sometimes that’s the way it goes in soccer.”
Marblehead was able to jump on the scoreboard early after earning a penalty kick when Cait Mullins drew a foul in the offensive box. Rigby was chosen to take the penalty kick, and she made her opportunity count when she buried one in the back of the net to earn what would become the game-winning goal.
Swampscott continued to fight throughout the game, earning a number of shots on goal and even hitting the post twice. In the end, Marblehead’s defensive game plan was able to keep the Big Blue off the board for the rest of the game.
“I really can’t complain too much about how we played out there, we outshot Marblehead by a lot and we got a number of opportunities, but we just didn’t cash in,” said Leeder. “We played well on the defensive side too — we only allowed one shot on goal outside of that penalty kick. There were a lot of good things we did out there, but we just didn’t get the win.”
Marblehead (1-1) and Swampscott (1-2-1) will have a rematch Friday evening under the lights at Blocksidge Field (5:30).
“Marblehead celebrated (Monday) like they just won a tournament game, and I don’t blame them because these are big rivalry games between us,” said Leeder. “You can throw the records out the window when these two teams meet.
“We’re looking forward to getting another crack at them Friday night,” Leeder added. “I liked the way we played (Monday) and we’ll have a practice or two to work on some things, so we’ll be feeling good going into the next game.”
