SWAMPSCOTT — The Peabody boys soccer team shook off a slow start Wednesday evening, turning things on in the second half en route to a 6-1 win over Swampscott on the road at Blocksidge Field.
“We got off to a slow start and we just weren’t moving the ball very well,” said Peabody coach Stan McKeen. “The midfield wasn’t attacking early, but I thought in the second half we were really able to turn it around.”
Kyle Joyce led the way once again for Peabody, scoring five goals in the win. Joyce now has nine of the Tanner’s 13 goals in just two games this year.
“Kyle has most of the goals so we’d love to get more guys scoring too, but he’s a great player and he’s had a great start,” said McKeen. “But when we’re able to move the ball like we did in the second half, we’re tough to defend.”
Kyle Lobao had one goal and one assist, while Nick Sablone had one assist.
For Swampscott, Vincent Palmer scored the lone goal.
“We dominated in the first half and were playing really well, our midfield was doing great and we were creating chances,” said Swampscott coach Michael Amaral. “But in the second half we died out, and that’s when the game shifted.”
Peabody came out firing early on, getting a quick goal from Lobao at 14:17 of the first quarter. The two teams settled in from there, battling over the next 29 minutes until Peabody was able to break through again. This time it was Joyce who came through with the goal, scoring with just over five minutes to play in the first half to put the Tanners up 2-0.
But Swampscott didn’t back down. Just one minute later, Palmer put the Big Blue on the board with a goal to make it 2-1 and steal back some momentum.
At halftime, the score remained 2-1 Peabody.
The Tanners didn’t waste any time getting going in the second half either, scoring just 16 seconds into the third quarter on a goal from Joyce to go up 3-1.
Joyce added three more goals over the course of the second half to help the Tanners pull away comfortably.
Swampscott (0-3) takes on Danvers Friday (6:30)
“We’re playing with a lot of tenacity and determination as a team, it’s just unfortunate that we’re not getting the results yet,” said Amaral. “But we know we’ve just got to keep working and plugging away and we’ll get there.”
Peabody (2-0) goes up against Marblehead Friday (4).
“The ball movement is key for us, so we’re really working on being more consistent with that,” said McKeen.