BEVERLY — Columbus Day created a long weekend for the people of Massachusetts, and no school calls for early morning kickoff from the pitch.
But for the Marblehead Magicians boys soccer team (3-5-8), players won’t get to fully enjoy the holiday after a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Beverly Panthers on Monday morning.
Just 10 minutes into the game, Beverly marked its territory after beautiful ball movement diced up the Magicians defense, and a shot that rang off the post gave an easy rebound opportunity that the Panthers finished for a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers were able to twist the knife just 55 seconds later, when a deadly counter attack turned into an easy finish in front of goal.
Marblehead coach Eric Magaña called the back-to-back scores “unlucky” and immediately called a timeout to try and get his side to focus on the task at hand.
“I decided to call that timeout, regroup the troops, and say you know what, wake up, snap out of it,” Magaña said.
The Magicians responded well to their coach’s order, with their will to win and overall play clearly improved. And with 29 minutes still to go in the first half, Marblehead had plenty of time to bounce back.
Marblehead juniors Ilan Druker and Stefan Shepard played in a few dangerous crosses throughout the rest of the half, and back-to-back corner opportunities nearly turned into goals toward the end of the half, but the Panthers defenders were quick to the spot and cleared the danger.
The Panthers took the 2-0 lead into the second half, as the game continued to resemble an unstoppable force meeting with an immovable object. Shepard was able to apply the pressure for Marblehead throughout the last half, but his long free kick attempt and solo run through Beverly defenders came up just short.
The Magicians seemed to be going in the right direction offensively, but Panthers defender Owen McCarthy played a large part in keeping Marblehead off the scoreboard, according to Magaña.
“Our midfielders were winning the ball more…and that’s how we created chances. Owen McCarthy, he played a phenomenal game and it was hard to keep the ball away from him,” Magaña said.
The Magicians showed signs of defensive dominance, holding the Panthers to a goose egg after the two quick mishaps in the first half. Sophomore Adam Loughlin, who made a variety of athletic plays to stop Beverly’s quick attacking play, led the defense.
Magaña said he was “happy we did not give up a third one” as new rankings are soon to come out, and a lot of that was because of Loughlin.
But, when the final whistle blew it was the Panthers taking the 2-0 victory. Magaña’s biggest takeaway was his team’s determination to come back.
“The effort was there…. the number one positive thing (is) that my boys did not give up. We kept on pushing and kept on looking for a goal,” Magaña said.
Marblehead will next host Danvers under the lights on Wednesday night.
