ITEM PHOTO: KATIE MORRISON
Marblehead’s Hadley Carlton, right, fights off Swampscott’s Jackie Frisoli during a game on Wednesday.
By KATIE MORRISON
SWAMPSCOTT — Marblehead girls lacrosse coach Annie Pugh thinks that her 2016 squad is the “strongest team (with the) most depth” she’s seen in her six years as head coach and nine years with the program.
It’s hard to argue. The Magicians wrapped up their regular season with a 16-2 win over Swampscott at Phillips Park Wednesday, which solidifies their perfect record in the Northeastern Conference (13-0), which they won outright. They’ve lost just one game this season, a non-league matchup against Concord-Carlisle (a top-10 team in the state) back in April.
The Magicians boast a potent offense, and that certainly showed on Wednesday.
After five minutes of play, Marblehead had already put five goals on the board. Three of them came from Caroline Driscoll, the sophomore midfielder who has already racked up over 100 goals in her career.
Marblehead scored 13 times before the end of the half. Taylor McBurney netted Swampscott’s first goal with 10 minutes left in the half, and Grace DiGrande scored with a minute to go to close the gap to 13-2.
“Our offense is very talented, and I think that having seven attackers who are able to go to goal is one of our greatest strengths, as well as having a number of girls who are able to feed to each other,” said Pugh. “They’ve learned how to feed off each other, and it’s fun to watch, it’s fun to be a part of.”
The Magicians added three goals after the half, and held Swampscott off for the remainder.
Driscoll scored four times and logged an assist, and fellow sophomore Hadley Carlton, who also scored her 100th goal this season, also racked up five points with three goals and two assists. Freshmen Grace Arthur (3 goals, 1 assist) and Lydia Bongiorno (2 goals, 2 assists) each recorded four points. Niamh Healy scored twice, Corinne Mayle added a goal and Lucie Poulin scored a goal and had two assists. Amanda Gregory played a big role offensively as well, logging four assists.
Both teams will now get ready for the tournament, waiting to see their seedings, which come out Friday.
For Marblehead, which has played the best teams in the NEC (Swampscott, Beverly, Peabody and Danvers, all tournament-bound) to wrap up their regular season, Pugh says that these last couple of weeks have felt like the postseason.
“We’ve played the last four games like it’s been the tournament,” said Pugh. “Every time we’ve stepped out onto the field we’re imagining it could be the last game. We’re preparing the best we can and we’re very excited to see what we get.”
Swampscott coach Al Eaton said that playing Marblehead to end the regular season served as good practice for the tournament.
“That’s how we looked at it,” said Eaton. “We could have made some tactical changes to try and accommodate their style of play, but we wanted to stay with our style of play, play our game, because we don’t know who we’ll play (in the tournament).”
Pugh has high hopes for her team, but recognizes how far Swampscott has come this season as well.
“Swampscott has really grown. I was very impressed with their defense and how they’re able to talk and communicate with one another,” she said. “They’re a strong program on the rise, and I’m looking forward to seeing big things come from them.”