SAUGUS — With the regular season closing and the playoffs on the horizon, both the Saugus girls soccer team (12-3) and the Big Blue of Swampscott (8-4-5) put on a performance for their fans on Monday evening. Unfortunately for Swampscott, the Sachems pulled through with a 2-1 win.
With the win, Saugus officially clinched the 2023 Northeastern Conference Lynch Division title. The Sachems have been a well-balanced team with a strong defense and a midfield that can get out of tight spaces, all while having clinical finishers proved all season they were the team to beat. But to clinch the title on home field, Saugus had to dig deep and earn it.
The game, which was tied at 0-0 at halftime, was best described by Saugus coach Chris Coviello as a “playoff” type match. Both teams did not give an inch, and despite the Sachems having more shots, they found it difficult to get past Big Blue goalkeeper Eve Byrne (17 saves).
“She really showed up to play,” Big Blue coach Jaymie Caponigro said. “Unfortunately, the last time we played Saugus she was injured, so today was her first time seeing them. I think she gave them a great performance and she really kept us in the game when it mattered.”
Even Coviello praised Byrne’s performance.
“We need to be able to put the ball in the net, but their goalie played well. She made some really good saves,” Coviello said. “You have to give her a lot of credit. She kept them in the game.”
Three minutes into the second half, the Sachems found the breakthrough, with junior captain Madison Botta striking past Byrne to give Saugus a 1-0 lead.
“Her motor never stops. Despite the double teams and everyone trying to stop her, she still pops through the defense and gets goals,” Coviello said.
Swampscott continued to play its game and after a save from Byrne, it jump-started a counterattack. The Big Blue pushed the ball upfield, which led to a cross from Jane Raymond finding Lyla Rogers, who beat the Saugus goalie to the ball to equalize the game with 25:45 left.
“We like to say that we always like to play with our heart and we leave it all out there and I think that goal really shows that’s the kind of team we are. No matter what, we’re going to compete even if we’re down,” Caponigro said. “That goal stemmed from the save Eve made and the ball worked its way all the way up the field and it’s great to see that we didn’t hang our heads.”
Both teams had chances to go ahead, but it wasn’t until there was 18:19 left to play when a shot from Shawn Sewell demanded a save from Byrne. The save pushed the ball back into the middle of the penalty box, where senior captain Madi Femino was first to react and poked home the eventual game-winner.
“I don’t know why, but we play better under pressure,” Coviello said. “They kept playing and working hard to find the winner and they did.”
Despite the same scoreline from earlier this season, Caponigro believes her team has improved significantly from the Sept. 27 matchup.
“Our result was the same as when we played them last time, but I think we’re a totally different team and we showed that today,” Caponigro said. “I think we strung passes together better through the midfield, we just couldn’t find that goal at the end.”
Caponigro mentioned she was impressed with her team’s communication on defense.
“We’ve worked a lot recently on communication in our backline. Not just getting used to playing with each other, but getting used to finding our voice,” Caponigro said. “We definitely improved on that today and we still have some work to improve, but it’s great to see that we keep getting better as the season goes on.”
Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday as Swampscott travels to Masco for a 4:30 p.m. game, while Saugus heads to Peabody for a 6 p.m. match.
