SWAMPSCOTT — Sometimes it’s best to do the bulk of your work early and play with a solid lead the rest of the way. That was the case Monday afternoon when the Swampscott field hockey team scored three goals in the first half and cruised to a 4-0 shutout win over Peabody in a Northeastern Conference tilt at Blocksidge Field.
Christina Rogers led the way for the Blue Blue with two goals. Sydney Cresta and Olivia Passalacqua each scored one goal.
“We did good today,” Swampscott coach Jamie Spano said. “We’re coming off a few hard ties so we wanted to score quickly and get some goals on the board. It’s nice to get back in the win column. We have been having a lot of 1-1 and 0-0 games so it’s nice to score four goals.
“It was a good offensive effort,” Spano added. “We were able to get the ball in the net. I would have liked to see a little bit more, definitely some more rebounds, but it’s a work in progress.”
With a 3-0 lead at halftime, Swampscott was able to get its underclassmen playing time in the second half.
“We got to work a lot of players in today,” Spano said. “We have five freshmen on varsity so they were able to get some playing time. A few sophomores got in as well so it was good to get everyone involved.”
Despite allowing four goals, sophomore goaltender Sidney Branga played a solid game for the Tanners. Branga made several key stops including a save on a penalty stroke in the second half.
“Every team we have played has said the same good things about her,” Peabody coach Tawny Palmieri said of Branga. “She saves a ton of goals for us, that stroke in this game was a big play for her to have that save. This is her first varsity experience. She’s doing great and you couldn’t ask for anything more out of her.”
Peabody improved in every phase of the game in the second half, controlling possession and only allowing just one goal.
“That has been a common theme for us lately,” Palmieri said. “Our second half we will let up no goals, or one or two goals at the most, and it takes that first half for us to adjust. It’s getting better with every game that we play I’ve noticed.
“I think over time the first half will slowly start to get better and better as well as the second half,” Palmieri added. “For right now we are a second half team, but if we can get that first half to look more like the second half we will be all set.”
After starting the game with a few missed scoring opportunities, Swampscott finally found the back of the net with just over 18 minutes left in the first half. Rogers ripped a shot through a crowd of opposing players that slipped by Branga to put the Big Blue ahead 1-0.
A few minutes later, Cresta found a shooting opportunity of her own and buried a shot to the left side of the net to extend the Swampscott lead to 2-0.
Swampscott got on the board again with 11:53 left in the first half. Rogers was able to control a loose ball in front of the Peabody net long enough to score and put Swampscott ahead 3-0 before halftime.
The Tanners were much better on offense in the second half but were still unable to create any legitimate scoring opportunities.
With the game well in hand, Passalacqua added one final goal for the Big Blue in the final minutes to seal Swampscott’s 4-0 win.
Swampscott will travel to Revere for a game Wednesday (4) while Peabody hosts Everett Wednesday (4).