Boys soccer loses to Magicians

Last night, the boys soccer team lost to Marblehead 1-2, after scoring their only goal within the first 5 minutes of the game.

Marblehead scored the first goal of the game, which Gino Tripoli quickly responded to with his goal. Gino’s goal came in only the third minute, but was the only goal Gloucester scored all game.

Last time Gloucester played Marblehead, the Fishermen won by a score of 4-1, and it seemed like they thought it’d be much of the same. However, Marblehead made adjustments since last seeing Gloucester.

Head Coach Armando Marnoto credited Marblehead’s improvement from the last game. 

“The first half, Marblehead came out with a purpose,” he said. “They were more physical than us, they wanted the game more than us, and it showed.”

Marblehead scored their second goal coming from TJ Kelly, which ended up being the game winning goal, putting them up 2-1 before halftime. 

Coach Marnoto disliked his team’s first half play.

“We were playing too passive, which is how we gave up those two goals in the first half,” Marnoto said. “We should never give those goals up, and it resulted in us having to play desperate in the 2nd half.”

The Fishermen played much better in the second half, keeping the ball on Marblehead’s side of the field, which resulted in countless shots on goal. Yuniel Sanchez made many plays in the midfield, breaking up Marblehead’s passes and pushing the ball to the Fishermen’s scorers. This allowed Gloucester to have the ball in Marblehead’s box for most of the rest of the game.

Coach Marnoto mentioned the halftime adjustments. 

“We brought Benji up from the back line up to defensive mid to clog up the middle,” he said. “We started winning the 50/50 balls in the middle, and then it was just about getting the ball into the box and crashing.”

Marblehead double teamed Gino and Geremy every time they were in scoring distance. They still managed to get multiple shots on goal, but Marblehead’s goalie played a great game, saving every shot on goal in the second half. Neither team scored in the second half, resulting in the Fishermen’s 1-2 loss.

The Fishermen drop to a record of 11-4, but still remain No.1 in the NEC South. Their next game will be away tomorrow at Winthrop at 5pm.