MARBLEHEAD — The Marblehead field hockey team played a solid game Wednesday afternoon — executing the game plan on offense and holding strong on defense — but in the end it just wasn’t quite enough as the Magicians fell to Northeastern Conference foe Danvers 1-0 at Piper Field.
“I thought it was an extremely well-played game,” said Marblehead coach Linda Rice Collins. “We had a game plan coming in and the girls really executed it well. We knew what Danvers was going to bring and I think we were able to shut them down pretty well for the most part. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win, but it was a great game.”
Rice Collins pointed to Julie Arts, Callie O’Neill, Maddy Dimare, Lydia Hurley and Sammi Bendicksen and Emma Ferrante as players who stood out for Marblehead in the loss.
“We had a lot of opportunities to put the ball in the net, so we’re going to have to work harder on that,” said Rice Collins. “We’ve been working hard on corners lately, but to not be able to get anything on five corner opportunities is tough.”
Danvers came out attacking early, getting two high-quality scoring chances just five minutes into the game. The Magicians battled right back, earning a corner opportunity early in the half and then nearly scoring on back-to-back plays in the Danvers zone about midway through the first half.
But the key moment in the game came with just under 11 minutes to go. Danvers took control of the ball around midfield and moved into the Marblehead zone. Emma Thibodeau rushed up the right side and sent a quick pass through two defenders to Jenna Lowd, who managed to knock a shot into the back of the net for the only score of the game.
Marblehead didn’t give up in the second half, getting two corners within the first minute of play. Two more close scoring opportunities and another corner came about for Marblehead in the second half, but Danvers stood tall every time. Finally, the Magicians had one last chance.
With under 10 seconds remaining in the game, O’Neill took control of the ball and broke through the Danvers defense for a free run at the net. She sent a shot at the net, but Danvers goalie Brigid Churchill made the game-clinching save to win it for the Falcons.
“We’ve practiced exactly what to do in that situation when we have less than 10 seconds left to play, and the girls executed our plan to perfection,” Rice Collins said. “Unfortunately for us, the Danvers goalie made a great save. We’ve got to finish those chances.”
The slate of games doesn’t get any easier for Marblehead, with NEC games against Beverly and Swampscott coming up next.
“We’ll build on this going forward, because we’re going to have a tough stretch of games coming up,” said Rice Collins. “We’ve been putting things together over the course of the year, so now hopefully we can put them into action.”
Marblehead (5-4) will face off against Beverly Friday afternoon (4).