PEABODY — Scoring woes continue to haunt the Peabody boys soccer team. In their first six games so far this season, the Tanners have been shut out in four of them with only five goals scored.
Wednesday night at home was more of the same, as visiting Danvers followed suit, defeating the Tanners, 4-0, through a steady drizzle.
“We’re just not playing well,” said Peabody coach Stan McKeen. “We’re just not aggressive at all and not moving to the ball. We struggled trying to get anything going up top and that’s been a problem all year. We played most of the game in our own end, especially the last 20 minutes of the second half. They’re trying to dribble it out and that doesn’t work.”
“All in all, we just kept working together and communicating, and it was one of our best games this year,” said Danvers coach Sam Perel.
Danvers opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Luca Tirella beat Peabody’s goalie low and left – just inside the far post – to stake the Falcons to a 1-0 lead.
Danvers continued to control pace and possession over the next 20-plus minutes, but Perel didn’t like what he was seeing, calling a timeout with 12:34 to play in the first half.
Let’s just say whatever Perel said, the Falcons took to heart, scoring less than a minute later on a pretty goal from Drew Godfied, who took a perfectly-placed through ball from Connor DiTomaso and buried it at the 11:43 mark of the first half to double the Falcons’ lead to 2-0.
“During the timeout, I told them we were trying to force the ball over the top too much, so I told them to slow it down and that we had more time than they thought,” Perel said. “Let’s possess the ball. Defensively, I said to not get caught with the ball on the outside because the middle was wide open. We needed to stay in our shape and keep only one player on the ball.”
The second half started much like the first with the Falcons dominating play and pressing on the attack. Just four minutes in, Canicci Charles drew a foul in the box, converted by Gianluca Locilento, low and left, to extend the Falcons’ lead to 3-0.
DiTomaso capped the scoring with about 20 minutes to go.
Despite the loss, McKeen saw some things he liked.
“I thought Thad Broughton, Marshal Simpson and Jayden Lopez all played well today in the back and once again, unfortunately, our goalie, Julio Cambui (9 saves), was very busy today. He’s been very busy back there all year.”
Perel was pleased with the play of Connor DiTomaso.
“I thought Connor was the Player of the Game today,” Perel said.
The Tanners (1-6) are back in action Friday in Winthrop at 4:30 p.m.
“I guess they’re a .500 team, but honestly, every team is going to be tough for us,” McKeen said. “It makes no difference who the opponent is. We are just going to struggle.”
Danvers (5-3) returns to the field Friday in Swampscott at 4:30 p.m.
“I think they are a little like Peabody – kind of in the same tier – so I expect it will be a close, tough game,” Perel said.
