SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott girls lacrosse team was able to battle back from a six-goal halftime deficit Wednesday afternoon, but in the end the No. 14 Big Blue just didn’t quite have enough firepower to pull out a victory — falling to No. 19 North Middlesex by a score of 17-13 in a Division 3 tournament Round of 32 game at Blocksidge Field.
Abby Eichler and Coco Clopton each had five goals and one assist to lead the offensive attack for the Big Blue, while Brooke Waters finished the night with two goals and one assist. Sophia Ciciotti notched one goal, while Scarlett Ciciotti notched one assist in the loss.
The Big Blue got off to a bit of a slow start, falling behind 2-0 in the opening two minutes before getting a goal from Clopton. But North Middlesex answered back with two more goals of its own, stretching its lead to 4-1. Sophia Ciciotti found the back of the net for the Big Blue to slow the attack, but North Middlesex answered right back with three straight goals to make it a 7-2 game.
But Swampscott didn’t get discouraged. The Big Blue got a great stretch of play from Eichler, who scored three straight goals in the middle of the half to bring the deficit back to 7-5.
However, North Middlesex was able to keep the momentum going by closing the half on a 4-0 run to take an 11-5 lead into the halftime break.
The Big Blue were able to make some adjustments at halftime, coming out and getting back-to-back goals from Eichler and Clopton within 34 seconds of each other. But, as had been the case all game, the Patriots answered right back with two straight goals of its own to keep Swampscott from getting into a groove.
It went on that way for the remainder of the game. Clopton and Waters notched a goal each within 25 seconds of each other to cut into the deficit, then North Middlesex halted the momentum with a goal of its own. After Clopton scored another one to try and steal momentum back, the Patriots scored again to keep the five-goal lead.
Even after Waters and Eichler each scored to make it a three-goal game (15-12) with less than nine minutes to play, North Middlesex was able to slow things down, take time off the clock and score a back-breaking goal with 5:25 to play. The Patriots added another goal in the final minute to make it 17-12 before Clopton rounded out the scoring with 12.8 seconds to play.
Swampscott wraps up the 2022 season at 10-7.
