Last night, the boys soccer team beat Swampscott 2-1, in what might’ve been their ugliest win this season. This win, following their 8-0 win against Rockport and 5-1 over Saugus has clinched the No. 1 spot in the NEC South.

Gloucester started the scoring quickly, with two goals scored by Gino Tripoli in the first two minutes of the game. His first goal was assisted by Dom Paone and his second was assisted by sophomore Dylan Smith. It was Dylan’s first start for varsity.

The rest of the first half was sloppy from both teams. The Fishermen have had one of the best defenses in the conference all season, but they didn’t perform as well in the first half of this game. Swampscott was able to pressure Gloucester’s defense, which hasn’t really happened so far this season. After many ugly possessions, Swampscott finally got on the board with two minutes left in the first half. 

Head Coach Armando Marnoto mentioned why the defense wasn’t up to par. “We took Yuni (Sanchez) out of midfield and tried playing him with Leo (Vitale) in the back,” he said. “It just didn’t work out between the two of them, so we switched it back and the defense looked much better in the second half.”

The Fishermen also seemed out of energy the whole game. Coming into the game, they’d only had one day to rest in the past week. 

“We’re coming off seven days straight of playing; we only rested on Sunday and started back up with a game on Monday,” Coach Marnoto said. “We look a little ragged, it was good to win an ugly game, but we need some rest before we play Marblehead.”

Despite the poor first half, Gloucester’s defense stepped up in the second. Yuniel led the defense from the midfield, clearing some balls out and breaking up most of Swampscott’s passes. Neither team scored in the second half. In stoppage time, Swampscott managed to get a shot on goal, but it was saved by Stefano Numerosi, sealing the 2-1 win for the Fishermen.

With four games left in the regular season, GHS boys soccer clinched the No. 1 spot in the NEC South. Their next game will be at home against Marblehead next Tuesday at 4:30.