SWAMPSCOTT ― In a back-and-forth, down-to-the-wire game between Northeastern Conference girls soccer foes Swampscott and Peabody Wednesday afternoon, it all came down to a penalty kick. And when the Big Blue’s Sophie DiGrande found the back of the net midway through the first half, that proved to be the difference as Swampscott took home a 1-0 win at Blocksidge Field.
“We played well out there (Wednesday) and we needed it,” said Swampscott coach Ken Leeder. “We knew Peabody was playing really well coming into this one, and we knew that our back line would have to stand strong and keep us in it. They did their job in the back, and then our forwards did a great job of keeping pressure on their defense as well. It was a great team win.”
Swampscott goalkeeper Lilian Gosselin notched eight saves to earn the shutout in net, while Priya Cooper, May Raymond, Victoria Quagrello and Mia Schena all played strong games for the Big Blue.
Branae Craveiro and Ava D’Ambrosio played well in the midfield for Peabody, while Maddie Scacchi and Meghan Billingsley had strong games on defense.
“You’ve got to give credit to Swampscott, they played a very defensively oriented game and they were able to keep us off the board,” said Peabody coach Andrew Douglass. “We played well and dominated possession early, but we didn’t get anything out of it.”
Peabody controlled the pace of play in the early minutes of the game, but the Tanners weren’t able to capitalize. Things didn’t start heating up until around the 25-minute mark of the first half, when DiGrande got taken down in the box and earned a penalty kick. She took two steps and rocketed a shot into the back of the net, giving the Big Blue a 1-0 lead.
“We have a ton of confidence in Sophie to make that shot, so it’s always good when she gets the chance to take a PK,” said Leeder. “But we scored that goal pretty early in the game and still needed to keep Peabody off the scoreboard, and I’m glad we were able to do that.”
The Swampscott defense took over from there, as the Big Blue were able to hold off any Peabody runs and keep the scoresheet clean for the rest of the game.”
Peabody (6-4-3) returns to the pitch Saturday morning (11) for a home game against North Andover at Coley Lee Field.
“We still need one more win or tie to get us into the tournament, and we have three games left so we know time is short,” said Douglass. “North Andover will be a tough test Saturday, but that’s also perfect preparation for the kind of teams we’ll see in the tournament.”
Swampscott (8-2-4) is off until Monday (4) when it plays on the road at Haverhill.
“We’re just trying to stay healthy and keep playing well as we head into the tournament,” said Leeder. “We’re already in, so it doesn’t really matter what our seed is. If we’re healthy and playing our best, then we’ll be tough to beat.”
