At Christopher Piper Field in Marblehead, the Big Blue took on the Headers. The game was close for the first half before Marblehead pulled away for a 12-5 win.
Marblehead got going early as they led 2-0 with just 2:17 gone in the game. But Swampscott’s Senior Captain, Chris Mason, had other ideas.
He scored unassisted with 2:27 to go in the quarter to make it 2-1. But like so many other times this year, the Big Blue had a hard time closing out quarters. Marblehead answered as time expired to take a 3-1 lead.
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Swampscott coach Josh Field argued the call but the officials wouldn’t budge.
Mason stayed hot as he scored his second goal of the game assisted by Sean Lannon at the 10:46 mark. Lannon would then tie the game with an assist from Brian Santry just 47 seconds later.
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The Big Blue roll would continue as Patrick Kennedy gave them the lead from Lannon and Billy Valle with 9:15 left in the half. The momentum would swing back the other way as the Headers scored two goals to retake the lead with 5:15 on the clock.
They would continue to pressure the Swampscott defense. Goaltender Mark MacMahon made two big stops at the 1:55 and 1:30 marks to keep the Headers in check. The Big Blue would even the game in an odd way.
With Adam Samborn holding onto the ball deep in the Marblehead zone, Swampscott coach Josh Field let him know that there were only 7 seconds to go. Samborn rushed the net and beat the goalie.
But was it too late? Header Coach John Wilkens argued it was. But the clock showed 59 seconds. In the confusion, the coaches had thought there were only seconds left but it was actually a minute and seven seconds!
Samborn’s goal stood assisted from Chris Mason and the game was tied 5-5 at the half.
At the half, the athletic trainer worked on Sean Lannon. He had injured his hand and would return in a limited way in the second half.
Swampscott couldn’t seem to get anything going at all. An early stick check of Marblehead’s Ian Maag by Swampscott backfired. A heated Maag came out and scored two quick goals and the Headers never looked back. They scored seven straight goals for a convincing 12-5 win.
With the NEC loss, Swampscott falls to 7-3 (NEC), 7-9 overall. They take on Martha’s Vineyard at Blocksidge Field on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
