FILE PHOTO
Isabell Amigo, left, had a goal in Marblehead-Swampscott’s win over Wakefield Saturday.
By SCOT COOPER
The Marblehead-Swampscott girls’ hockey team needed five points in its final four games to make the state tournament, which begins next week.
The Magicians completed a sweep of its weekend matches by blanking Wakefield, 8-0, Sunday morning behind goalie Sarah Ryan.
Ryan was the beneficiary of another offensive explosion by her teammates a day earlier; the Magicians buried nine goals on Saturday in a 9-3 win over Leominster.
The Magicians now must come out of the Newburyport Tournament on Tuesday and Thursday with one point to qualify for the state tournament. It’s not going to be easy. The Magicians will skate against a good Winchester team Tuesday. The winner of that game gets the Lynn/Winthrop-Masconomet winner Thursday in the championship game.
Sunday morning at Rockett Arena, the Magicians ran out to a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes on two goals from Olivia Fusegni and a single strike by Cate Delaney. The lead ballooned to 6-0 after two periods on a pair of goals by Bella Peters and an unassisted single by Grace Moroney in the second.
Delaney’s second score made it 7-0 to open up the third period, and Isabell Amigo’s goal from Ally Countie and Caroline Kinne closed out the scoring.
Coach Emily Hudak said the quick start and the shutout by Ryan between the pipes were the keys to the big win Sunday.
“We had beaten them (Wakefield, 7-4 on January 18) earlier so we knew we could do it again if we played well, we scored early and Sarah made some big saves for us,” Hudak said. “The pressure’s still on, but things look better than they did on Friday.”
Saturday’s 9-3 win over Leominster at the Cronin Rink featured five points from sophomore winger Sydney Cresta, giving her 100 for her career. Cresta, who made it 102 with her two helpers against the Warriors, said it was awesome to get the milestone in a big win.
“I thanked my teammates Saturday, they made the whole thing so special for me, and we won the game too, which we had to do,” Cresta said after the Wakefield win. “It was a very exciting experience for me to reach 100,and my teammates just made it so much better for me with their support.”
Cresta is now only 21 points behind her older brother Gino for Cresta hockey supremacy. Gino put up 122 points at center for the Big Blue in his career.
Cresta’s 100th point came on an assist, setting up Bella Peters in the third period against the Blue Devils, the final tally in a 9-3 win. Peters, Cresta and Cate Delaney each scored a couple in the game on Saturday. Amigo, Kinne and Fusegni had single goals in the win.
“We did what we had to do, win two games this weekend, but we still have a big task ahead of us on Tuesday afternoon (1 p.m.) against Winchester,” Hudak said.