MELROSE — The No. 7 Swampscott girls soccer team rolled to another Division 3 North tournament win, beating No. 2 Saugus 4-0 in the quarterfinal round at Fred Green Memorial Field Monday night.
The Big Blue were led by sophomore Mackenzie Kearney who scored two goals, each coming in the second half. Maddy Foutes and Sophie DiGrande each added one goal for Swampscott.
“We knew what to expect coming in,” Swampscott first-year coach Norman James said. “We had played this Saugus team earlier in the season. The only thing we were worried about was coming in and maybe playing a little too relaxed to start. I’m glad that we started out real fast.”
The Big Blue defense was strong for most of the night, holding on to the early lead and preventing the Sachems from getting anything going offensively.
“They just went to the ball harder tonight period, end of story,” Saugus coach Chris Coviello said. “It was a physical game and they were more physical than we were tonight. We had a great season but just came up a little short tonight unfortunately.”
Swampscott was able to get on the board quickly, with 31:33 remaining in the first half. Foutes gained possession at the top of the Saugus box and turned and ripped a quick shot that found the back of the net to put the Big Blue ahead 1-0.
The Sachems saw several possible opportunities on free kicks in the first half but couldn’t capitalize as Swampscott held on to the one goal lead before halftime.
Kearney took over the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half for Swampscott. Just three minutes into the half, Kearney ripped a shot from the top of the box that found the back of the net for the 2-0 Big Blue lead.
Less than four minutes later, Kearney added another goal when she slipped by a Saugus defender and beat the Saugus goalkeeper with a shot to the far post to extend Swampscott’s lead to 3-0.
“She is a special player,” James said of Kearney. “She can basically change the game for us anytime she wants to. She is that good of a player.
“Mentally sometimes as a sophomore she feels like she doesn’t want to over shadow the seniors on the field,” James added. “But next year during her (junior) season she is going to be a star for us.”
From there on Swampscott dominated the possession game, preventing any hopes at a comeback for Saugus.
DiGrande added a goal in the final minutes of play after winning a race to a loose ball in front of the Saugus net to cap off the 4-0 win for the Big Blue.
“Going into the halftime I just talked about, ‘let’s take care of the ball and let’s score some more goals,’ and that’s what we did so I was glad to see that,” James said. “Now we focus on what I think the biggest game will be Wednesday against Stoneham.”
The Big Blue advanced to the sectional semifinal and will play No. 3 Stoneham Wednesday evening (5) at Manning Field. Stoneham sealed its bid in the semifinal round with a 6-0 win over Boston Latin Academy in the quarterfinal round.
Saugus ends the season with a 16-3-1 record.