Big Blue Closes Curtain on MHS Boys' Soccer

's boys’ varsity soccer team put together a solid second half Wednesday afternoon in Swampscott, but they were done in by three Swampscott goals to start the game, losing on the road 4-2 in their final game of the season.

Marblehead fought back to cut the score to 3-2 with 30 minutes left in the game before Swampscott’s Adnan Dzino scored his third goal of the afternoon with 13 minutes to play to ice the game for the home team.

Marblehead played a much stronger second half than first half, pushing the playoff-bound Big Blue for the whole 80 minutes Wednesday.

“I wasn’t frustrated at all,” head coach Darren Benedick said. “Just disappointed that we didn’t get the results we were looking for today and this season, the boys never quit, they played hard and our record really does not indicate what type of team, what type of group we had this season.”

Marblehead (2-13-3) was coming off a 3-3 tie with Beverly on Tuesday, Senior Day, and had tied the Big Blue 3-3 earlier in the season.

“We won more games than we did last year, we tied more games than we did last year, are we satisfied with our record, no, but I’ve got no problem with the effort the team put out on the field this season,” Benedick said.

Swampscott jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Erick Verdu, and two from Dzino. The Magicians made it 3-1 with three seconds left in the first half when Chris Brady got free in front of Swampscott goalie Patrick Kennedy and poked the ball in the cage.

“This team never quits, we went for it all year, obviously we didn’t get the results we wanted record-wise,” co-captain Chris Pederson said. “I’ve made some great friends from the Marblehead soccer program, and I’m proud to be a member of this team, and honored that they had me as one of their captains for my senior season.”

Marblehead sliced the lead to 3-2 five minutes into the second half on a nice play in front of the Swampscott goal. Cole Guyre got to a loose ball in close and punched a shot past Kennedy’s right side to make it a one-goal game.

Marblehead pushed the attack for most of the second half, drawing calls on Swampscott that led to direct kicks by Mike Brenan, but the Swampscott back line didn’t allow any good shots in tight on Kennedy.

“It was a tough season for me, with the injury (knee) and the surgery, I would have liked to have been healthy for my senior year,” co-captain Mike Brenan said. “We played hard all year, I’ve made so many good friends on this team, friends that I’ll have for a lifetime, that’s something positive I can take from this season.”

Most of the play was in the Swampscott (8-6-4) end in the second half, but the Magicians couldn’t find the back of the net after Guyre’s goal.

“I’m proud of the guys, we played hard, we stayed together, even after the losses piled up,” co-captain Danny Plunkett said. “It was great to be part of the Marblehead High soccer program.”

All three Marblehead captains were injured to start the season and Benedick said if he could go back to training camp he would have wrapped them all in protective wrap before the season started.

“It would have been nice to have them all out there, injuries do happen however,” Benedick said. “I’m proud of the effort from the seniors and we worked in a lot of younger players this season, Marblehead soccer has a bright future.”

Northeastern Conference All-Stars Josh Beloff and Rudy Mukania led the team in scoring. Seniors Jordan Calixto, Luke Chandler, Doug Levine and Wheeler Law led the way for the defense in 2011.