Peabody Too Much For Girls' Soccer Team

Things started off great for the Magicians in the first game of a girls' soccer double-header Tuesday at Piper Field when 's junior varsity team knocked out Peabody 1-0 on a score by Michaela LeBlanc.

Unfortunately, the magic was missing in game two and Peabody's varsity team hung a 5-1 loss on Marblehead (3-5-3).

Hayley Dowd helped push Peabody up 3-0, chalking up two goals and an assist for the Tanners, who remain unbeaten atop the NEC with an 11-0-2 record.

“Marblehead played well, they won a lot of balls in the 50-50 area at midfield, their girls competed against us, it’s just very hard to beat us when we get any type of lead,” Peabody head coach Dennis Desroches said. “Marblehead fields a competitive team every year, and they have improved since the first time we saw them.”

That game was a 7-0 rout on Sept. 22 in Peabody.

“We absolutely played much better tonight than we did last time against them,” Marblehead coach Tracy Deluca said.  “We had a lot of chances to score, we just couldn’t finish.”

The speed of Peabody's offense, he said, has helped them put up a lot of goals against Marblehead this season.

“When Peabody turns on the speed they’re tough to stop, we have a hard time matching up with their quickness on the front line,” Deluca said. “It’s also not a good idea to fall behind against them, we did and we couldn’t come back.”

Marblehead got a lift heading into the half when freshman forward Audrey Meakins drilled the ball past Peabody keeper Kaitlyn Brunnelle with less than 30 seconds play. Meakin’s goal made it 3-1 and gave a big lift to the girls on the field and the players on the bench heading into halftime.

Peabody had ripped off ten straight goals over two games before Marblehead finally got on the board. Freshman Meggie Collins set up Meakins, who notched the first goal of her varsity career, leaving Marblehead down by two with 40 minutes to play.

Marblehead was playing aggressive, attacking every loose ball, and getting great work in net by Cassie Rodgers, who kept her team close with several great saves.

Dowd quieted the partisan Marblehead crowd when she notched her hat trick at 5:06 of the second half. Dowd picked up her fifth point of the game when she set up Madison Doherty for a tap in for Peabody’s final goal with 5:28 to play.

“That team can score quickly, they transition very well,” Deluca said.

With a noon release day today at MHS, Coach Deluca and assistant coach Sara Henderson gave the girls some homework to do before Wednesday’s practice.

“I told the girls I want them to come up with ways we can get better and get into the state tournament,” Deluca said. “We’ve played well here and there, we just have to do it consistently.”

Marblehead hosts Beverly Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. The JV’s take on the Panthers at the field at the same time.