ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Swampscott’s Maggie DiGrande holds the ball away from Salem defender Jessica Jellison.
By KATIE MORRISON
SALEM — One of the keys to the success of the Swampscott girls lacrosse team this season has been its ability to adapt to the style its opponent plays, and make the necessary changes to its own game plan to compete.
It’s a strategy that’s paid dividends so far this season, and it did again on a rainy Monday evening at Bertram Field as the Big Blue (12-2) cruised to a 10-1 victory over Salem.
Not only was it a good start to a tough week, in which Swampscott will play four straight games, but it was a nice way to celebrate Senior Night, as the Big Blue honored seniors Clare Lang, Emma Sutherland, Isabelle Cilley, Taylor McBurney and captains Claire Powell, Ellie Wright and Maggie DiGrande.
Ellie Wright led the way offensively, scoring four goals, while Sutherland and Ocean Crawley-Sweeney each added a pair. Sisters Maggie and Grace DiGrande added a goal apiece.
For Salem, senior Camryn Connolly scored the Witches’ lone goal. But it was the play of goalkeeper Sydney Rocheville that was the highlight of the day for Salem, as the senior made several impressive saves, many of them from point-blank range.
Rocheville’s efforts kept the score close through the early part of the first half, as Swampscott had trouble penetrating the Salem defense and getting open shots.
“We found that we didn’t have much luck feeding cutters, so we wound up trying to drive and that ended up being the thing,” Swampscott coach Al Eaton said. “Every team is different, we just try to adapt to what they throw at us.”
Eight minutes into the first, Wright finally beat Rocheville to put the Big Blue on the board. The score opened the floodgates, in a sense, as Swampscott started to find a rhythm. Sutherland took advantage of a turnover in Swampscott’s defensive end and capitalized with a goal at 15:19. Less than two minutes later, Wright snuck a low shot past Rocheville from right in front of the net to make it 3-0, prompting Salem coach Jessica Upton to call a timeout.
But the stoppage in play didn’t knock the Big Blue out of their rhythm. Less than a minute later, Mary Miles found Maggie DiGrande in front and DiGrande whipped a back-handed shot past the goalie to make it 4-0.
The Witches managed to stop the bleeding for about 10 minutes before Crawley-Sweeney fired in a shot from the top of the circle to give Swampscott a 5-0 lead heading into halftime.
Salem kept the Big Blue off the board for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Grace DiGrande connected with Sutherland at 15:53 to make it 6-0. Connolly put the Witches on the board three minutes later, but from there on out, it was all Swampscott.
After a lengthy Salem offensive possession, goalie Powell made a save and gave the Big Blue the ball back. Miles found Grace DiGrande in front and it was 7-1. Wright added a goal at 9:14 and again at 1:05, and Crawley-Sweeney barely beat the buzzer, scoring with about three seconds to play.
One of the things that has made Swampscott a tough team to beat in the Northeastern Conference has been the fact that everyone contributes offensively.
“Typically, almost every game, with a couple of exceptions, we’ve had at least six goal scorers,” Eaton said. “We try and do that because if we try to ride on one horse, the other team will just face-guard that player, and then you’re done. So we work hard at trying to work as a group.”
It took a few games for the offense to click, but coupled with a strong defense that’s been there since game one, it’s made the Big Blue a strong team.
“We have a good group of defenders, and they work well together. It’s been a big difference in our game,” Eaton said. “Our offense took some time to get some traction early in the season, but the defense was there to support them. Now it’s working on both sides right now, and at the end of the season, that’s exactly where you’d want to be.”
Swampscott is now gearing up for the postseason, but there’s still work to be done. The Big Blue had to cram four games in before Thursday, and will have a big test against Peabody this afternoon.
“It’s a big game, that will be a huge challenge for us and it will give us a good indication of the type of teams we’ll face in the tournament,” Eaton said. “That one’s been circled on our calendar.”
After that, they have Stoneham Wednesday and Revere Thursday.