WINCHESTER — The Swampscott girls lacrosse team wanted a series of tough tests to prepare for the state tournament as the season came to a close, and the Big Blue got exactly that on the road at Knowlton Stadium Tuesday as they fell by a score of 19-3 to host Winchester in a non-conference battle.
“We knew coming into this one that we’d have to play well if we wanted to compete, and we just ran into a really tough team out there,” said Swampscott coach Al Eaton. “We’re certainly happy to get the strong competition as we head into the tournament, but obviously we’d like to compete a little more in games like this. Give all the credit to Winchester, they were fantastic out there.”
The game against Winchester — the No. 15 team in Division 1 — was just the latest in a series of tough matchups for the Big Blue over the past two weeks, as Swampscott has also faced Marblehead (No. 31 in Div. 2) and Hamilton-Wenham (No. 6 in Div. 4) — taking home wins against both.
“When we were setting up the schedule this year, our goal was to have the last month or so of our season be a really tough test to prepare us for the state tournament,” said Eaton. “Since switching divisions in the NEC a couple years ago, we’re no longer playing teams like Peabody, Danvers and Masconomet twice a year anymore and we really liked that level of competition on a consistent basis.”
As for the action on the field Tuesday, the Big Blue struggled to get any offensive rhythm going against the high-powered Winchester offense. Broghan Laundry led Swampscott with two goals in the loss, while Scarlett Ciciotti notched one goal. Coco Clopton had one assist, while goalie Sasha Divall made eight saves in net.
Swampscott (10-5) will close out the regular season with a tough test on Thursday (2), taking on Pentucket in a battle of tournament-bound Division 3 teams. The Big Blue are currently the No. 14 team in the latest MIAA power rankings, while Pentucket (8-4) clocks in at No. 5.
“This game will be different than the games against the Marbleheads, the Hamilton-Wenhams and the Winchesters, because this one is against a team in Division 3 and a team we could realistically see in the tournament,” said Eaton. “This is a chance to see how we stack up against one of the top teams in our division right before the tournament starts, so we want to see what we can do.”
