SWAMPSCOTT — There’s an old saying: you can’t teach experience. Wednesday afternoon at Blocksidge Field, Saugus’ girls soccer team (1-0) showed just that in a 6-1 win against Swampscott (0-1).
Saugus returned the likes of Shalyn and Shawn Sewell, Layla Manderson, and Madison Botta – all of whom played key roles last fall. Now, they’re back for their junior and senior seasons and three of them scored season-opening goals.
With a 2-1 lead at halftime, the game was still up for grabs. That was until hat-trick hero Shalyn Sewell decided to put her stamp on the evening.
She scored three times in the second half to launch her junior campaign off with emphasis. Known for her speed on the outside, she didn’t let anyone stop her on two open-play goals. Then, when she needed to, she stepped up to the penalty spot and calmly tucked another.
“[Playing] with Madison, they’re going to be marking her so she (Sewell) needs to be working off of her. She was there doing what we worked on and being that option if Botta is drawing triple teams. She’s going to be wide open and that’s what happened,” said first-year Saugus coach April Martinez. “They play really well together and they work really hard in practice.”
Second-year Swampscott coach Jaymie Caponigro gave credit to Saugus, and believes her side can build from the loss.
“They are a very talented team. They have a lot of their standouts back this season, so they’re used to playing together. They found their groove and are a very good team. Saugus showed up to play today,” Caponigro said. “We had our moments, which is great, and there’s a lot of stuff that we can build off from this. There’s a lot of stuff that we will continue to work on. Luckily for us, we get to see this team again.”
It was Botta finding the scoresheet first for the Sachems. After hitting the crossbar early on, when a chance came falling to her a second time, she made no mistake to punish the Big Blue (1-0).
Botta went from scorer to facilitator as her corner kick set up Shawn Sewell, who headed home another to make it 2-0.
“We worked all week on fun heading games and it was just awesome to see it go in,” Martinez said.
Despite a 2-0 hole, Swampscott fought and got one back through Lyla Rogers, who sprinted beyond Saugus’ backline after a great pass from Jane Raymond to make it 2-1. Then, moments before halftime, Greta Siefken sent in a dangerous free kick that narrowly missed her teammate.
“We can capitalize more on opportunities in our final third. That’s something we’re going to focus on from here on out for the rest of our season. We’re really looking for that player on our team who’s going to get hungry in the box and who wants to score,” Caponigro said.
It was, at times, difficult to attack Saugus’ backline because of Layla Manderson, who was everywhere on the field, sweeping up any attack that Swampscott threatened with. Martinez spoke highly of her defender.
“I’ve been coaching Layla for five years. I’ve seen her really grow. She knows exactly what I expect out of the defense. I want them up high, organized, and stepping up and winning the ball. I know that if the ball goes over her head, she’s able to track it down,” Martinez said. “She’s just a force. She’s ridiculous.”
Martinez also praised senior striker Botta, who finished the game with two goals and an assist.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time and I’ve never had a striker like her. She can hold onto the ball and also give it up to produce scoring opportunities,” she said.
The Sachems welcome Winthrop at 4 p.m. on Friday. Swampscott looks to rally against traditional archrival Marblehead at Blocksidge Field on Monday (4:30 p.m.).
