U12 Sculpins Down Clash 3-1

This article was submitted by Christian Lau.

The Swampscott Sculpins, a U12 boys soccer team, continued their Essex County fall season in North Reading recently with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over the Clash. 

The Sculpins, with two goals from Ryan Langan and stellar performances from goal keeper Maxx Cooper and defenders Thomas O'Keefe, Jake McIntire and Spencer Perkins, scored three unanswered goals to erase a 0-1 halftime score. 

The win evens Swampscott's record at 1-1 after an opening week loss in Danvers.

For the game, Swampscott was led by its defenders especially O'Keefe, McIntire and Perkins who dominated the backfield and kept the North Reading pressure at bay. 

Simon Keough and Cameron Lau also were strong defenders who never gave North Reading time or space to set up an attack. In the first half, keeper Kevin Coffey added solid netminding behind them by stuffing a number of hard shots. 

The lone goal allowed was a long, upper corner shot coming out of the early morning sun. In the second half, Cooper took over as keeper and shut out the Clash. Cooper frustrated North Reading attackers multiple times especially when he corralled the ball on three late corner kicks.  

In the offensive zone in the first half, the Sculpins, led by forwards Dan Johnson and Brendan Laundry, pressured the Clash net but could not capitalize on a number of nice passing plays, corner kicks and even a penalty kick by Keough.  

The Sculpins kept up the attack in the second half and tied it up in the opening minutes when Coffey rushed up the middle through the defense to fed a right-side, charging Langan who muscled a shot around a defender. 

The rebound rolled off to the right side of the net and Langan stayed with the play, picked the ball off the goal line and banked a shot off the keeper into the net. 

The game winner came off the foot of Colin MacRae and the speed of Hershel Muntiu. Muntiu brought the ball deep into the offensive zone along the left side line. 

He sped around the defender near the corner and rifled a low shot across the box. MacRae, crashing in alone against a collapsing pile of defenders and a diving keeper, perfectly one-timed the winner into the netting. 

Two minutes later, Muntiu was serving up another score. Again Muntiu took the ball deep into the left corner, saved it from going over the goal line and fired an untouched strike across the box to Langan sneaking in from the far right for an uncontested chip in.             

The final piece of Swampscott's winning performance was the play of its midfielders. Cooper set the tone early on in the game with a series of brilliant plays transitioning the ball to forwards Johnson and Laundry in the offensive zone and, in the second half, Keough, MacRae and Lau repeatedly stalling the Clash attack and quickly delivered the ball to Sculpin wingers.

With all facets of the Sculpins game clicking, Swampscott looks forward to its first home game this week versus the Amesbury Raiders.