The Gloucester Field Hockey team started off the 2023 season Tuesday night with a hard loss against Swampscott.
In the 81-degree heat, the Fisherman started off with a goal by Lexi Carollo 10 minutes into the game. Joie Cody made important blocks to prevent the ball from entering the circle. Anna Cinelli saved the ball from going out of bounds to send it across the field and into scoring position.
However, the game got messy after that. One of Swampscott’s captains, Sawyer Groothius, high-sticked Cinelli, causing her stick to go flying across the field. Both Anna Hafey and Lily Pregent were hit by high sticks during the game, causing them to sit out for a short time. Lily was carded twice, once for a high stick. Gloucester was carded again shortly after.
Swampscott tied up the game 1-1 with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. Lexi had a good pass to senior captain Ella Costa to create an opportunity in the circle. The team had many corner attempts to score throughout the game.
Sophomore goalie Keagan Jewell made a diving save at the net and successfully stopped the ball from down below. Senior captain Ari Scola had a good job running the ball up the field throughout the game.
Swampscott scored their second and third goals within a minute and a half of each other during the 3rd quarter. The score was 3-1 going into the 4th quarter. Lily had a good breakaway up the field to bring the ball up to Swampscott’s net. With 5 minutes left, Gloucester had a good shot on the net that was blocked. However, they bounced back from that with a goal to make it 3-2 with 3 minutes left. Unfortunately, the girls could not get the ball back into the circle in time and came home with a loss to start off the season.
“We need to communicate,” said defensive player Joie Cody during a team huddle. “We can’t let them get to us.”
The Fishermen are 0-1 currently and play against the Saugus Sachems at 4:30 for their home opener.
