SWAMPSCOTT BLUE LIGHTNING #1 IN ESSEX COUNTY GIRLS' U-14 YOUTH SOCCER !

Swampscott Blue Lightning continued in its quest for an Essex County Youth Soccer Association championship title in the U-14 girls’ “A” division by beating North Andover and Rockport in its final two games of the regular season. Its perfect record standing at 8-0, Blue Lightning has secured the top seed in the season-ending championship tournament held this week at the Pingree School in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  

Entering the North Andover game on Saturday, June 2, Blue Lightning was well aware that this was going to be a challenging game, especially after coming off the Memorial Day weekend break. North Andover had lost only two games, and until Swampscott had beaten Andover in its last game, was also in the hunt to qualify for the Pingree tournament. Blue Lightning proved itself worthy, however,
defeating North Andover, 3-1, while demonstrating the grit and determination it
has throughout the season.

Scoring for Blue Lightning was the dynamic offensive tandem of Meghan Hartmann and Sarah Hingston. Hingston notched two goals and one assist, and Hartmann scored one goal and one assist. Midfielder Megan Marocco assisted on the other goal on a beautiful, lead pass that set the speedster, Hingston, up for her scoring strike. Hartmann and Hingston have emerged as potent offensive weapons for the Blue Lightning, combining to score multiple goals throughout this spectacular season.  

The hallmark this Eve Gambale-coached team has been its defense, however, and once again, Swampscott held its opponent to just a single goal for the entire game. The backbone of this tough, aggressive team defense is the consistent,
intelligent play of Jessica Gambale, Anna Hunt, Annie Norton and Emily Guo.  Midfielders Emma Wright, Rebecca Cerra, Olivia Cooke and Marocco worked hard throughout the game, as they have throughout the season, to support the defense and ignite the offense, creating a strong, balanced attack. Alayna O’Keefe, Sara Martin and Kendall Rhodes combined to help seal the Blue Lightning victory. 

On Saturday, June 9, Swampscott faced Rockport in its final game of the regular
season, needing to win in order to preserve its perfect record. Midfielder Ali
Sloan opened the scoring on a direct kick early in the game which found the
corner of the net to beat the Rockport goalie. The dynamic duo – the H&H
sisters -- Hartmann and Hingston, then put on a soccer clinic, demonstrating
just how much they have developed over the past season by working closely
together, rather than simply relying upon speed and athleticism, but combining
into an offensive powerhouse.

Hartmann and Hingston accounted for all three of the final three Swampscott goals of the season, just as they have for nearly all of the Blue Lightning scoring
throughout the year. The first of this trio of goals was on a beautiful crossing pass from Hartmann which Hingston punched into the net on a fly, the second was on a series of crisp passes from midfielders Wright and Sloan to Hartmann, who rocketed the ball past the Rockport goalie, and the third was off of a deflection when a Hartmann rocket bounced off of the goalpost, where Hingston was perfectly positioned to fire the ball into the corner of the net. Final score: Blue Lightning 3, Rockport 1. 

Blue Lightning heads to Pingree this week to try to bring home the U-14 Essex County Youth Girls’ U-14 championship title for Swampscott. Should Blue Lightning manage to get past Marblehead in the opening round, Swampscott is likely to face a tough, aggressive and talented Andover team in the finals.  As every one of its  opponents so far this season will attest, however, Swampscott is as tough, as aggressive, and as talented as any team in the league! 

Win or lose in the Pingree tournament, Swampscott Blue Lightning has met its
pre-season goal of qualifying for the season-ending championship tournament,
and more importantly, has developed under Coaches Eve Gambale, Suzanne Wright and Anthony Cerra into a closely-knit team of girls whose shared passion for soccer has melded into a common bond of friendship. The Swampscott Youth Soccer Association deserves our sincerest thanks for helping provide our children with such a wonderful opportunity to develop their soccer skills, as well as their
appreciation of the value of teamwork, camaraderie, and sportsmanship.

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