SWAMPSCOTT — A relentless Danvers offense was too much to handle for the Swampscott boys lacrosse team in a 18-9 Big Blue loss Tuesday at Blocksidge Field.
The Big Blue fought to a 4-4 tie midway through the second quarter but Swampscott couldn’t run with Danvers for all 48 minutes.
“It was great to see the guys get off to a fast 2-0 start,” Swampscott coach Geoff Beckett said. “We executed some of things we’re trying to work on. We even executed some of things on defense. I think the biggest thing is we ran out of gas. We don’t have a lot of guys on the sideline. Our guys played hard but eventually taking faceoffs, playing defense and running in from the wing really starts to take its toll.”
Kyle Fitzgerald led Swampscott with six goals. Ethan Eichler added two goals while Christian Pierro scored one. Big Blue goalkeeper Timothy Perlin had 12 saves.
The Falcons fell into an early two-goal hole but once they settled in, Danvers controlled possession for much of the night.
“It’s been a problem we’ve had the last couple games,” Danvers coach Wes Chittick said. “We get down and it’s almost like we need to be punched in the mouth before we’re ready to really start firing. We started to get it together and started winning faceoffs. We got into the offensive flow from there and started to pour them in.”
Attackmen Brendan Treacy and Jacob Rotker both had great games, scoring five goals each for Danvers. Christian Burke added three goals. Nick Tavares and Justin DiTomaso scored two goals each and Matt McCarthy scored one.
The Big Blue got off to a fast start after winning the opening faceoff. Pierro fought through a Danvers defender and ripped a shot to put Swampscott ahead 1-0 less than a minute in.
Midway through the first quarter, Swampscott used a man-up opportunity to control possession. Seconds after Danvers killed the penalty, Eichler ripped a shot that found the back of the net to put the Big Blue ahead 2-0.
Treacy got the Falcons going a few minutes later with a pair of goals in a 30-second span to tie the game at 2-2. Danvers built off the momentum, with Rotker adding a goal after a Swampscott penalty and Treacy scoring again in the closing seconds of the first quarter to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead.
Fitzgerald willed Swampscott back in to start the second quarter. The junior scored back-to-back goals 36 seconds apart to tie the game at 4-4. But Danvers answered with another four-goal run. Burke scored a pair of goals, while Treacy and Tavares added one each to put the Falcons ahead 8-4.
The Big Blue answered less than a minute later when Zachary Pierce dished a nice assist on a goal from Fitzgerald to cut the Danvers lead to 8-5.
Danvers added a pair of goals in the final minute of the first half. Rotker scored with 30 seconds left and MCarthy ripped a shot that found the back of the net with just seconds remaining to give Danvers a 10-5 lead before the break.
A trio of Swampscott turnovers to start the third quarter helped Danvers build its lead in the third quarter. DiTomaso and Rotker added a goal each to stretch the Danvers lead to 12-5.
Both teams went back and forth for the rest of the third quarter. Eichler added another goal for Swampscott but Treacy responded with a goal of his own less than a minute later. Fitzgerald added his fourth goal midway through the third but Danvers once again added a goal in the final minute of a quarter, this time from DiTomaso, to take a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Danvers chewed away much of the clock, adding four goals in the final quarter to close out the game. Fitzgerald scored two fourth-quarter goals to round out the scoring for Swampscott.
The Falcons (8-1) will hope to continue their solid start to the season when they host Marblehead Thursday (4). The Big Blue fall to 5-4 and will look to rebound on the road at Beverly Thursday (4).
“We just have to make sure we don’t let this keep us down,” Beckett said. “We have to keep doing what we’re doing and improving. I think we’re doing a lot better every game.”