SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott and Marblehead have delivered their share of classics over the years, and Monday night’s edition was no different. In front of a packed crowd on the Big Blue’s home turf, the two rivals battled through a tense, back-and-forth contest that wasn’t decided until the final seconds — with Swampscott emerging with a dramatic 7-6 victory.
With rain starting to fall and Swampscott trailing by two goals after Marblehead’s Will Sullivan put the Magicians up 6-4 with 1:05 remaining, it seemed the hill was too steep for the Big Blue.
However, with 27.7 seconds left, Chase Russo scored to tie the game at six. Then, when the Big Blue regained possession, Head Coach Geoff Beckett gave the signal for Jay Domelowicz to push into the offensive end — and he didn’t disappoint. With 6.9 seconds remaining, Domelowicz fired in the game-winner to seal the win for Swampscott.
“They kept their heads up and never quit. They kept moving the ball, kept being patient and waiting for that thing to open up and sure enough we found Chase Russo on the back side there to tie it up,” Beckett said. “Then I told Dome to take off on the clear and sure enough he did and took the winning goal. It was awesome.”
Marblehead Head Coach John Wilkens was disappointed with how the game ended, citing “self-inflicted wounds” as the reason for the loss.
“Self-inflicted wounds. It was the same thing that happened the last time we played them. It was our mistake. The last game we played them we threw the ball out of bounds and gave the ball back,” Wilkens said. “Carbon copy of this game. We just made the save at the end there and should have killed the clock but we rushed it. At the end there, no one picked up the guy with the ball. In the end, it’s just a series of bad decisions.”
Beckett spoke about how the win was a long time coming, noting his efforts to build the program to compete with Marblehead.
“It’s been a long time fighting against Marblehead, they’re a fantastic program. We’ve been trying to build this thing for the last five years. These seniors have been building this for five years since they were in eighth grade,” Beckett said. “It’s starting to show off which is pretty amazing.”
Swampscott led 3-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Jason Rothwell, Liam Keaney and Emerson Joy.
Despite the early lead, Marblehead stormed back in the third quarter with four unanswered goals from Reece Moore (twice), Sullivan and Tyler Forbes to take a 4-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Hats off to Marblehead. They came out in that second half with fantastic defense and really upped the pressure on our guys,” Beckett said.
Wilkens said his team’s shot selection improved in the second half, which helped them climb back into the game.
“I don’t think we were shooting the ball well in the first half. We shot the ball a little bit higher on this kid and I think when we were bouncing the ball we were shooting at the kid’s feet,” Wilkens said. “Sometimes you can make goalies look good when you don’t shoot well.”
Both Marblehead goalie Colin Maniaci and Swampscott goalie Timmy Sheehan made crucial saves throughout the game. Sheehan (14 saves) earned praise from Beckett postgame.
“He has a motor like I’ve never seen before. He never quits. He’s always the first one at practice and last to leave. He’s always grinding and asking for more,” Beckett said. “I can’t give the kid enough credit. He just always works on his craft ever since he first picked up the goalie stick.”
Both teams now await their postseason opponents, with the tournament bracket set to be released Wednesday at 2 p.m.
