Marblehead’s Megan McCarthy pushes the ball up field. Item Photo by Katie Morrison
By Katie Morrison
MARBLEHEAD — The Marblehead girls soccer team is quick, skilled and loaded with experience. On Thursday afternoon, the Magicians showcased those talents as they took down Saugus, 7-1, at Piper Field.
The Magicians (5-0) dominated possession throughout the game, which has been the team’s forte under coach Andrew Bub.
“We work on our possession almost every practice because if you can’t possess, you can’t take a shot or win the ball,” Bub said. “So ideally it’s possession, and how we play as a whole unit. Possession, movement off the ball and movement as a team, that’s what we stress.”
The scoring started halfway through the first half, as Marblehead’s Olivia Eddy put a shot into the corner of the net past Saugus goalkeeper Alana Aldred. A couple of close calls later, the Magicians found the back of the net again, when Megan McCarthy settled a pass in front of the net and tapped a shot past Aldred’s dive.
The Magicians kept the pressure on and uncorked several shots over the crossbar, until Rory Schauder launched a shot from about 25 yards out, arching it just over Aldred’s reach and sending Marblehead into halftime up, 3-0. Saugus’ Alivia Burke made a bid as time ran out in the first half, breaking away from the defense, but Marblehead keeper Kelly Morrison slid at Burke’s feet to cut off the shot.
It was more of the same in the second half. In the 56th minute, Eddy crossed a pass to McCarthy, who fired off a shot that went just over Aldred’s reach, making it 4-0.
Marblehead had something going four minutes later, but Sachems midfielder Autumn Lopez got a foot on a shot just before it crossed the goal line to keep the deficit at four. A goal from Bridget Schauder two minutes later added to the Magicians’ lead.
Saugus scored a well-executed goal with five minutes to play. Allie Kotkowski brought the ball up the field and took a shot that Morrison tipped out of the net. Burke crashed the net and guided in the rebound.
A goal on a penalty shot from Megan Ryan and another with less than two minutes left from Alexis Bostley capped the scoring in Marblehead’s win.
Part of the reason why the Magicians are so dangerous is the number of offensive weapons they have. Six different players scored for Marblehead, which seems to be the norm.
“That’s the nice thing, we don’t just have one go-to, we have several go-tos. We know if we put the ball on the right foot at the right time, we’re going to get a good shot or at least a great opportunity,” Bub said. “The girls work the system well. A lot of them have been with me for four years, and it really helps because working in the same system for four years, their senior year, it almost becomes automatic.”
Marblehead’s style can certainly be frustrating for opponents. Saugus (3-2) coach Chris Coviello said that against a team that takes care of the ball as well as Marblehead, you do your best not to chase the ball around.
“We need to take care of making our own passes, which we didn’t do,” Coviello added. “We hit defenders. We just need to hold onto the ball better. We get rid of it too quickly sometimes.”
Despite the lopsided score, Aldred played well in net, stopping a number of shots within her reach. Coviello said sweeper Marissa McClellan played “exceptionally well,” and Kotkowski and Allison LeBlanc also had good games.
A battle of undefeated teams is set to take place Monday at Phillips Park as Marblehead visits rival Swampscott (4-0), but before that, the Magicians face a big test in North Andover Saturday. Saugus hosts Winthrop Monday.