WAYLAND — It wasn’t long ago when No. 10 Marblehead had all the magic in an overtime win against Somerset Berkley earlier this week. That was when junior Jared Halpern scored the game-winning goal to send the Magicians to the next round against No. 7 Wayland.
That magic ran out Thursday, however. Wayland scored an overtime goal to keep its Division 2 state tournament dreams alive.
“It was a good game,” said Marblehead coach Elmer Magaña. “We played well and they played well, and it was going to go either way – especially in overtime with it being sudden death. Whoever gets that lucky bounce is most likely going to win it. We got that bounce against Somerset. We took a corner kick and the ball bounced in the perfect area for Jared to score.”
Marblehead did find a picture-perfect start, however. Just 17 minutes into the first half, sophomore David Magen found the back of the net after constant pressure and quick passing from the Magicians.
“We knew that they were quick to the ball, so we told the guys that when we got the ball, we had to do quick passing because they’re very fast to mark,” Magaña said. “We had one-touch passing, which led to the goal.”
Marblehead continued to put the pressure on, but couldn’t find insurance. London McDonald hit the crossbar and, moments later, Halpern’s header from a corner smashed off the crossbar as well.
Ilan Druker, Halpern, and Magen pushed the pace for Marblehead and were finding space in the offensive zone. Unfortunately, the constant pressure only gave the Red and Black a 1-0 halftime cushion.
In the second half, the Warriors got what they wanted: an early goal. Within the first minute of the half, the ref blew his whistle to indicate a penalty kick after goalie Rory Zampese made contact with a Wayland attacker.
Despite the error by Zampese, he showed why he was the Northeastern Conference Player of the Year, making a diving save.
However, Wayland was first to react to the rebound and the next thing you knew, it was 1-1.
“Our defense wasn’t quick enough to clear it – we were just too slow there,” Magaña said.
Despite the equalizer, the Warriors had a tough time finding space in Marblehead’s defense, thanks to the defensive partnership of Adam Loughlin and TJ Kelly.
“Adam and TJ played phenomenal. They didn’t ball watch. They were first to react and anticipated everything,” Magaña said. “They are our cornerstone and they’re All-Stars.”
The game went into overtime and within a few minutes of extra time, Wayland found a goal after a home-friendly bounce.
“The tough regular season that we played prepared us for these types of battles. We were able to come back against Somerset and we were able to hang in there with Wayland. We went toe-to-toe with them,” Magaña said. “We made one mistake by giving up the penalty kick. We didn’t lose to a bad team; we lost to a great team.”
When asked about his senior class, Magaña couldn’t praise his players enough for what they’ve done for the program.
“The seniors are a band of brothers. They took the underclassmen under their wings,” he said. “The chemistry and leadership that they brought was fantastic. I carry an army of 27, but it’s an army of 27 great young men.”
Marblehead finished the fall with an 11-3-6 record.
