Girls' Soccer Battles Back to Tie Opener [VIDEO]

It was a back and forth game Wednesday afternoon but when the dust settled at Piper Field, 's girls’ soccer team settled for a 3-3 tie with Bishop Fenwick.

Wednesday’s game was the first of the season for Marblehead; Bishop Fenwick beat Austin Prep 3-0 in their opening game last week.

The Lady Crusaders got on the board first, after forward Rose Fantozzi was fouled in the box and was awarded a penalty kick at 21:55. Fantozzi shot the ball hard to goalie Cassie Rodgers’ right side and the ball glanced off of her hand and into the net.

Bishop Fenwick controlled the play for most of the first half, allowing only long shots by the Marblehead front line on goalie Carolyn Claveau.

The Magicians finally broke through with 12:14 to go in the first half when sophomore Sydney Cayen slid a nice pass in front to Emily Freedland near the right post and she tucked it in to tie the score.

The sophomore forward wasn’t done on the score sheet; she put Marblehead up 2-1 with an unassisted goal with 5:40 remaining in the first half.

Freedland’s second goal was blast by the outstretched arms of Claveau into the right side of the net, giving Marblehead their first lead of the season.

Monica Thorne had a great chance to put Marblehead up by two with 11 seconds to go in the first half, but Claveau squeezed her shot and the clock ran out.

Fenwick came out strong in the second half and fired shot after shot at Rodgers. Rodgers stopped four straight direct kicks, two by Fantozzi and two by Becky Mercuro.

Mercuro tied the score with a great shot that went high and hooked inside the far post with less than 13 minutes to play.

Fenwick kept pressing after tying the game and Mercuro scored again to put the Lady Crusaders on top 3-2 with 6:22 left in the game.

Both teams tried to control the play at midfield, Marblehead pressing to tie the score, Fenwick looking to kill the clock.

With 5:36 left in the game junior Mollysue Magrain lofted a high shot towards the Fenwick goal that caught Claveau off guard and sailed over her head into the net.

Time ran out with the score even at three, just as a passing storm drenched the field.

“We were out-shot by Bishop Fenwick, but our goalkeeper Cassie Rodgers did an amazing job back there, along with our defense,” coach Tracy DeLuca said.

“We were very excited to finally get out there and play,” co-captain Meghan Stanojev said. “I thought we played a good game today.”

Marblehead travels to Winthrop for a 2 p.m. game Saturday afternoon, and the girls are back on Piper Field next Tuesday against Danvers at 4 p.m.

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