BOXFORD — When your team hasn’t allowed a goal in more than 400 minutes of play, it’s hard to know how it might respond when a soccer ball finally hits the back of the net.
Wednesday afternoon, Masconomet head coach Alison Lecesse was happy to see her team use a little bit of adversity as a springboard to better play.
Visiting Danvers scored first and put a lot of pressure on the Chieftains, especially in the first half, but Masconomet struck back and took a 4-2 win on the grass field behind the school.
Senior captain Violet Malinowski scored twice and assisted on one of junior Ava Wexler’s two goals as Masconomet (11-2) won its sixth straight. Coupled with Beverly’s upset win over Marblehead later Wednesday night, the result puts the Chieftains (10-1 NEC) in sole possession of first place in the Dunn division with two league games to go.
“It’s important to have that out there as a goal, something the girls can work towards,” Lecesse said of the NEC title chase. “There are so many good teams in this league and you have to bring your best in every game.”
Danvers (7-3-1) played a fast brand of soccer and attacked the Chieftains vertically. The Chieftains had posted five straight shutouts coming in, but it didn’t take long for the Falcons to disrupt that streak as freshman Rylee Sullivan buried a laser of a shot from just inside the box in the 8th minute.
“They’d had shutout after shutout after shutout, so we told the girls ‘Let’s see if we can get a goal and see what happens’,” said Danvers head coach Jimmy Hinchion.
What happened was the Chieftains came together, shook it off and got to work. The hosts earned a corner eight minutes later and Wexler found the rebound of captain Cate Shaffer’s serve for the equalizer.
Six minutes after that, Malinowski scored her first of the day to give Masconomet a 2-1 lead that it never relinquished. The captain make it 3-1 at the 31-minute mark, but Danvers came up with a counter attack just 18 seconds later thanks to a nice run and finish by DeAnna Figueiredo.
“That’s Danvers,” said Lecesse. “They’re the kind of team that if they let one up, they can get it back very quickly. You can’t take your eye off the ball for a second against them.”
The ping-pong of scoring that came in the first was partly due to the Falcons winning balls in the air and moving forward with speed. Emma Sutherland did a great job pressing matters in the middle along with Maddie Hanas. Kaia Glover and Sullivan were effective on the outside, and Ashley Freitas did a good job in the middle.
“DeAnna had an amazing game,” said Hinchion, who has seen the senior forward take over as the main driver of offensive play with Lila Doucette sidelined by an injury. “To get two and have a lot of other good chances against a team like Masconomet is a good sign. I feel really good about the way we played.”
The second half was a different story — and pace of play. Masconomet largely kept the ball in the attacking end and had several great looks either turned aside by the Falcon defense or saved by keeper Taylor Landry. Wexler finally buried one in the 73rd minute to give her side some breathing room.
“In the first half, we got into some kick-and-run and that isn’t our game,” said Lecesse. “Danvers is such a big, strong team that you can’t play into their strengths. The second half was more of our game and definitely something we can build on.”
Sadie Morris had a terrific game at center back for Masconomet along with defensive partner Ada Paglierani. Keeper Evy Mills made eight saves and Maggie Blosser had some solid chances and even hit the crossbar once.
For the Falcons, Sabina Sturgeon also had a great game. Center back Addi McCarty played well in back and had one assist.
“We were in our own third for a lot of the second half, and that takes a lot out of you,” said Hinchion. “Masconomet’s a terrific team. They’re the real deal.”