It was a storybook season for the Marblehead High girls soccer team this fall, but unfortunately even the best stories eventually have to end.
The Magicians saw their bid for the first state championship in program history ended Thursday night way out west, where they fell on the road to No. 2 seed Longmeadow, 3-1, in the Division 2 state quarterfinal round.
The 10th seeded Magicians hung in there with Longmeadow for most of the night. Trailing by two goals for the majority of the contest, Marblehead finally got on the board with 11:35 to play when Longmeadow was whistled for a foul in the box. Junior Callie Gilmore stepped up and drilled the penalty kick to make it 2-1 with her team-leading 16th goal of the season.
All of a sudden, Marblehead was thinking comeback.
The hosts, however, had other ideas. Rhaya Manning scored with a low shot just moments after the restart to restore the two goal advantage which Longmeadow (16-2-4) eventually rode into next week’s state semifinals.
Senior Sydney Ball, the Northeastern Conference MVP, had another tremendous all-around game for the Magicians. Marblehead was defending in its own end for much of the first half with some excellent play by seniors Ashley Mortensen and Courtney Histerich and junior Ainsley McDonald keeping things relatively even.
Longmeadow broke the scoreless tie just over halfway through the first half when Cameron Greenman broke in and finished for a 1-0 lead. Emersynn Cage, who assisted Greenman’s goal, made it 2-0 just 14 minutes later when she sent a high shot that Marblehead keeper Hailey Gilmore couldn’t quite corral.
In the second half, the Magicians did a better job getting forward led by Callie Gilmore as well as Lucy McDonald and Lucy Church, but chasing the game against a side as strong as Longmeadow proved difficult.
Finishing up the year 14-2-5, the Magicians earned their most victories in a season since 2016. Coach Lisa Wales’ club also won two playoff games for the first time in nine years while winning their first ever statewide playoff game with a memorable home overtime triumph over Walpole and then upsetting No. 7 Oliver Ames, 1-0, on the road to reach the quarterfinals.