Panthers explode offensively, drop Danvers
Sep. 20—BEVERLY — Why did the five goals Beverly High's girls soccer team netted on a misty Monday afternoon against Danvers feel so significant? Consult the record book:
It had been more than three years and five games since the Panthers topped Danvers — and in those five meetings (0-4-1), the Black-and-Orange had three total goals.
With a mix of precision passing, artsy finishing and confident composure, Beverly shook that particular monkey off its back in a big way with a 5-2 triumph. Senior captain Izzy Sullivan had the first two markers plus an assist and senior Bella Jimenez had one of the best games of her career with two scores and an assist of her own.
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised because I know how good we can be," said Panthers coach Samantha Charest. "I am a little surprised to see it against Danvers. If there was ever a time to break out like this, today was the day."
Winners of three straight with 14 goals in that span, Beverly (3-1) seized control midway through the first half thanks to two outstanding through-balls from senior captain Grace Fitzgerald. She threaded the needle through most of the Danvers defense to spring Sullivan for goals at the 15 minute mark (with Sullivan finishing while falling to the turf in a pseudo-bicycle kick) and again 28 minute mark.
Only an outstanding save by Danvers keeper Emily Goddard kept Sullivan from getting a hat trick in the first half, keeping it 2-0.
"I think we're still trying to figure each other out a little bit," said Danvers coach Jimmy Hinchion, his club now 2-2-1. "We didn't have a lot of hunger today. Beverly took it to us in the little battles, the 50/50 battles going for the ball, and that sets a tone."
Early in the second half, Jimenez finished off a Sullivan rebound for a 3-0 edge. Now needing to spark some offense, Danvers went to a 3-back look (as opposed to four) and got on the board with the first of two tallies by Georgia Prouty with 22 minutes to play.
The Panthers responded, though, as senior Meghan Block finished a feed from Jimenez to restore the three goal advantage.
"It was great to see that composure of, 'OK, Danvers can score and we're going to be alright.' We showed ourselves we can hang on to a lead or come back down and put another in," Charest said.
The final ten minutes saw three goals with Prouty (who had seven of Danvers' 12 goals on the year) getting another (Olivia St. Pierre and Ellie Anderson had assists). Jimenez then scored her second in the waning moments with freshman Svetlana Piasecki getting her first varsity point with an assist.
"We knew that three back set wasn't going to be neat defensively but we needed to push it," said Hinchion. "We scored a couple off it, but we also gave up a couple."
Sophomore midfielder Maddy Young had a phenomenal game for Beverly, which shared the ball quite well as evidenced by the sheer number of scorers. Young helped set that tone with her quick touches and unselfish nature in the middle of the formation.
"We rely on Maddy a lot. She's super humble, works so hard in practice and she epitomizes the way our team wants to be cohesive," said Charest. "She epitomizes the way our teams wants each other to be successful. Take Bella Jimenez — she wanted to set up Izzy for a hat trick and we had to remind her she can shoot too ... and she ends up with two goals."
Defensively, sophomore keeper Kayla Cimon made some big saves and Claire Brean, Emma Fitzgerald, Olivia Griffin and Mia Biolotti played well for Beverly. The hosts were impressive with the speed and precision with which they moved the ball between the levels of the field.
"The defensive, mid and attacking lines have been strong on their own but we spent a lot of times in practice on getting all three working together as one," Charest noted.
Goddard had a solid game in net for Danvers while Mikayla Shaffaval and Reese Holland stood out on the defensive end. For the Falcons, it was a matter of getting knocked on their heels for periods of time and seeing one goal snowball into two or three ... mistakes that are definitely correctable.
"We can't get frustrated," Hinchion said, "and I don't think we will because this is a very positive group."
