PEABODY— With the intensity and energy gushing out of players, fans, and coaches alike, one could have easily mistaken Wednesday night’s regular season matchup between the Peabody Tanners and Saugus Sachems for a playoff game. At a foggy Peabody Veterans Memorial Stadium, Saugus outlasted Peabody in a battle of heavyweights,2-1, on the Tanners’ senior night.
As the game progressed, the fog lowered and, by the second half, players closest to their respective benches couldn’t see their teammates across the field.
Saugus had the game’s first scoring chances just minutes in. The Sachems came out strong and attacked deep into the offense zone more so than the Tanners. However, things changed after 10 minutes of play in the first half. John Arruda used his blistering speed to get by defenders and had a one-on-one with Saugus goalie Massimo Pagliocco. Arruda tried to spin past Pagliocco, but the two got tied up and fell to the ground. No penalty was called and both sides played on, with Pagliocco recovering to get the ball out of harm’s way.
Moments later, midfielder Hugo Countinho crossed a ball into the box where Arruda got a clean look to redirect the ball, but his attempt hit the left post, leaving Arruda in anguish.
With 13 minutes remaining in the first, Saugus drained all of the momentum that Peabody had built up thanks to a free kick goal by captain Brian Pineda. The foul was spotted at the 25-yard line on the left side of the field. Pineda curved the ball beautifully over the top of a wall of Tanners. The ball continued to dip down towards the bottom left corner of the net, but Tanners’ goalie Paul Drilon seemed to have thought the ball was going wide and didn’t play the post. As a result, Saugus broke through first and took a 1-0 lead.
Pineda commented on his goal after the game, stating his confidence in taking those shots comes from prior games where he’s had similar goals.
“I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again,” Pineda said.
Pineda and the rest of the Sachems’ offense came close to extending their lead multiple times, but were called for a number of offside penalties and handballs. The first half score read 1-0 and both sides knew that the score could have been vastly different had a few things gone each teams’ way.
Saugus picked up right where it left off with just eight minutes gone in the second. A Sachem got tripped up in the penalty box and Saugus was rewarded with a crucial penalty kick. Nicolas de Oliveira was chosen to take the kick. When the whistle blew, Oliveira creeped up towards the ball slowly, then took a sutter step before exploding to the ball and tucking it into the left side of the net.
Oliveira stated that his plan going into the shot was to stare Drilon down, and when he flinched one way, he would shoot it the opposite direction.
“I ran to the ball, I looked at the goalie, and I shot the ball looking at the goalie,” Oliveira said. “When he went to one side, I shot it to the other.”
Finding themselves down 2-0 quickly, the Tanners didn’t go down without a fight, and from then on, Peabody virtually dominated the rest of the half – playing with urgency and desperation. With under 20 minutes remaining, Bruno Correia found Countinho in the penalty box where he gathered the ball and sent a rocket that went cleanly into the back of the net with his left foot to make it 1-0.
Saugus played on its heels for the rest of the game and held on for dear life as the Tanners pushed players upfield to get as many scoring chances as possible. Arruda had plenty himself, but missed just wide on all of them. Peabody continued to pepper Saugus’ defense with shots in the final minutes, but the clock finally struck midnight on the Tanners, and Saugus escaped with the win.
Peabody Head Coach Stan McKeen talked after the game about how his team refused to quit.
“Chances were missed in front of the net, that’s what killed us,” McKeen said. “We never quit, but the opportunities we had in the last 15 minutes, we couldn’t finish them.”
After the effort put forth by both teams on the foggy night, the playoffs have seemingly started early for these two programs.
Saugus advances to 12-3-2 on the season and has one more matchup on the road against Mystic Valley to end the season. Meanwhile, for Peabody, the loss gives the Tanners a 12-3-3 record and a second place finish in the Northeast Conference.
Ryan Vermette can be reached at [email protected]
