Magicians weekly sports notebook on girls soccer, cross-country, volleyball, golf – Marblehead Current

Girls soccer wins two more

The Marblehead High girls soccer team (6-3-4) started last week with a 6-1 victory over visiting Gloucester on Senior Night at Piper, Oct. 7. Callie Gilmore led the way with two goals against the Fishermen to give her nine on the season. Lucy Church and Cam O’Brien took turns assisting on her goals.

Also scoring in the Gloucester game was freshman Lucy McDonald, who chipped in with a solo effort.

Lani Gilmore also netted an unassisted goal to account for her first marker of the season. Church was credited with a goal from Courtney Hitsherich. Laura Botnaru scored her first career varsity goal assisted by Juliet Burchfield.

Lily Heller and Hallie Gilmore split the goaltending chores, making one save apiece.

“It was great to see seniors Lani Gilmore and Laura Botnaru score their first goals of the season on Senior Night,” said coach Lisa Wales. “It took us a while to find our footing, but once we did, we were able to control the play and create some scoring opportunities.

“It was a great night honoring our 12 seniors,” added Wales, “and (specifically from the game) Ashley Mortensen, Lucy McDonald, Sydney Ball and Ava Machado all played great for us.”

Two days later, the Magicians edged visiting Beverly, 2-1. McDonald scored both goals. Callie Gilmore assisted on her second goal, while the first score was a solo tally.

“Beverly went ahead first, but we were able to tie it up, before taking the lead heading into halftime,” said Wales. “I can’t say enough about Lucy McDonald’s compete level. She is scrappy, and technically very sound and incredibly tough, who knows when to tackle. More than a few opposing coaches have said to me that they can’t believe she is only a freshman.”

The coach added that senior captain Sophie Robinson had a terrific game. “Sophie often does things well that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” Wales continued. “She works hard on the high press to force errors, and follows it up with shots on goal. She layers defensively when appropriate, and also slows down the play when needed on opposing free kicks.”

Senior captain Ava Machado leads the defense from her center-back position, along with the ever-versatile junior Sydney Ball, according to the coach. She also said that Hitsherich continues to play well at midfield.

Church created some excellent scoring opportunities from the wing in the Beverly game. Sophomore Callie GIlmore stayed ahead of her teammates on the stat sheet with another assist. She has nine goals and three assists on the season. “Callie is a true competitor. She has an excellent shot, and also makes intelligent passes and runs. She is a huge asset to our team,” said Wales.

Hailey Gilmore, Callie’s twin sister, was excellent in net against the Panthers, coming up with 10 saves.

The Magicians have since taken on non-league host Manchester Essex on Columbus Day after press deadline, before returning home to face Danvers Oct. 16 at Piper, beginning at 7 p.m. They will close out the week against host Winthrop on Friday at 4 p.m.

Boys cross-country takes two on the same day

The Marblehead High boys cross-country team (6-0) just keeps on winning, and this time it was two triumphs on the same day, Oct. 9, at Bradley Palmer State Park against Northeastern Conference rivals Masconomet (23-32) and Danvers (23-36).

Will Cerrutti (15:24) and Nate Assa (15:33) topped the ticket in this tri-meet with solid first and second place finishes. Jacob Szalewicz (16:23) ran his best race of the year, according to coach Brian Heenan, to come in fifth overall.

After an invitational meet on the Cape, the Magicians will return to the NEC Oct. 16 to run

against host Peabody, starting at 4:30 p.m.

Girls end up with mixed results after Potter breaks tie vs. Danvers

The girls cross-country team (4-2) experienced mixed results in a tri-meet against Masconomet and Danvers at Bradley Palmer State Park on Oct. 9. The Magicians dropped a 25-31 decision to the Chieftains, but defeated the Falcons in a tiebreaker after senior captain Maren Potter (24:32) crossed the finish line ahead of her Danvers counterpart to secure sixth place. It was all tied up at 28 after each team’s fifth place runner completed the course.

“It was a great race that was really close for all three teams,” said coach Will Herlihy. “Both meets could have gone either way. Similar to the Swampscott meet a couple of weeks ago, Maren’s finishing position offset the Danvers fifth runner, which sent the race to a tiebreaker in the first place.”

Marri O’Connell (19:07) went to the head of the class once again with another first place finish. Evelina Beletsky (22:12), Ruby Assa (22:30), Abbie Goodwin (22:57) and Evie Becker (23:23) rounded out Marblehead’s top five runners, before Potter’s heroics.

Following an invitational meet on the Cape over the weekend, the Magicians will return to the NEC Oct. 16 to run against host Peabody, starting at 4:30 p.m.

Volleyball team beats Saugus in comeback effort

After a slow start, the volleyball team (8-5) defeated Saugus in three sets on Oct. 7.

“Our offense struggled to make gains in the first two sets, before turning it around after trailing by seven in the second set to come back to win, 29-27,” said coach Killeen Miller. “In the third set, we pulled out a 25-15 win, with many of the points earned on the service line.”

Greta Sachs collected 13 kills and five aces from the service line against the Sachems. Issy Browning added another seven kills in the comeback victory. Megan Parkman and Sydney DaSilva combined for 12 digs to help lead the way to victory.

Against Peabody two days later, the Magicians followed a similar script. However, this time, unlike the Saugus encounter, they couldn’t overcome the slow start to lose to the Tanners in a marathon five sets.

Lila Moniz led the way in kills for the locals with 15. Sachs was close behind with 11. Sophomore Erin Wilder was credited with 28 assists, while Parkman was the leader on defense with 17 digs.

After taking the weekend off, the Magicians will get back on the court to face host Beverly OCt. 16, starting at 5:30 p.m., before coming home to take on non-league Ipswich the next day at 6

p.m.

Golfers wrap up regular season

The Marblehead golfers (11-2 in the NEC, 12-4 overall) began the final week of the regular season against non-league host St. Mary’s of Lynn at Gannon Country Club on Oct. 8. They ended up losing the stroke play match, 169-159.

Tyler Forbes (32 points), Marty Ryan (23), James Bickell (22) and Will Macrina (22) were the Magicians leaders. Forbes was the team’s medalist after shooting a 36.

The Magicians then took on Danvers and Winthrop in a doubleheader the next day at Tedesco. They defeated Danvers, 39-33, and then Winthrop rather easily, 47.5-24.5.

Against Danvers, Ryan (5-4), Forbes (5.5-3.5), Jacob Hershfield (5-4), Joy Meshulam (5-4) and Macrina (6.5-2.5) won their matches, while Greyson Levethal tied his match. Ryan was the team’s medalist after shooting a 34.

Ryan (8-1), Forbes and Hershfield (6.5-2.5), Leventhal and Meshulam (5-4) and Max King and Macrina (6-3) were victorious over their Winthrop counterparts. Bickell ended up in a tie to secure another point for his teammates.

The annual Tedesco Cup was on the line last Friday against rival Swampscott, and coach Bob Green’s team took care of business with plenty to spare, 47.5-24.5 to retain the Cup.

It was also Senior Day that featured eight Magicians coming out on top that included Ryan (5.5-24.5), Forbes (5-4), Hershfield (6.5-2.5), Bickell (5.5-3.5), Leventhal (5.5-3.5), Meshulam (6.5-2.5), King (6-3) and Macrina (7-2). Hershfield was the medalist after shooting a 33.

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