PEABODY — Despite getting its game moved to the back field at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Thursday afternoon, the Peabody girls soccer team put together a solid effort on both sides of the field to take home a 1-0 win over Northeastern Conference foe Saugus.
“It was a great game between two really good teams,” said Peabody coach Andrew Douglass. “A lot of these girls have been playing with and against each other since youth soccer, so there’s a healthy little rivalry there that’s always fun to watch.”
Emily McDonough scored the lone goal in the win for the Tanners, while Alyson Bettencourt had one assist. Connie Patturelli played well in the midfield for Peabody, while Sam Simmons and Maddie Scacchi played well defensively.
Goalkeeper Emma Bloom notched the shutout in net for the Tanners.
“Emma was huge for us (Thursday),” said Douglass. “She made some big saves down the stretch to keep us in the lead, but the biggest thing she brings every game is her communication skills and her leadership on the back end.”
Saugus got a great performance in net from goalkeeper Felicia Reppucci despite the loss.
“I thought we played really well out there, but Peabody just played a little better,” said Saugus coach Chris Coviello. “It was a great matchup and a great game, but it would’ve been nice to come away with the win.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half, with each team getting its share of opportunities and coming up short.
But early in the second half, Peabody was able to get on the board when Bettencourt found McDonough in the box and McDonough finished the job to give the Tanners the 1-0 lead.
Peabody held on from there, keeping the Sachems off the scoreboard to take home the hard-fought victory.
Saugus finishes the regular season at 10-8-0 and awaits its seeding in the upcoming state tournament.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep practicing and wait to see who our opponent is,” said Coviello. “We can only control what we can control, so we’ll see what happens Monday when the pairings come out.”
Peabody (7-4-4) will close out its regular season Friday evening (6) against Beverly.
“Beverly is a good team that’s playing really well right now, so they’ll be another great test for us as we go into the tournament,” said Douglass. “It’ll be a quick turnaround for us, but hopefully we can ride the momentum and pull out one more win.”
