Just days after allowing a late goal in a draw against Marblehead, Peabody’s girls soccer team suffered the same fate on Saturday against visiting Hamilton-Wenham. This time, the enemy escaped with a win.
Tied 0-0 at halftime, the Magicians ramped up the attack in the second half, keeping Peabody in its defensive zone for much of the half. Marblehead finally broke though with the game-winning goal with about 14 minutes to play.
Peabody head coach Andrew Douglass had high praise for goalkeeper Alessandra Forgione, who was under pressure the entire game and finished with 18 saves.
“She’s amazing,” Douglass said. “She’s put in the work in the last four years. She’s sat in behind some really good goal keepers so now it’s her turn and she’s really shining. She’s just fantastic. She’s a great leader. She has great distribution and obviously she can stop the ball. She’s 5-foot something and she’s stopping balls on the upper 90, so she’s got it all.”
Peabody came out strong at the start of the second half, earning three corners in the first five minutes only to come up empty.
“Im happy with the first two or three minutes in the second half when we had two or three corners, which is good because we’re dangerous on corners,” Douglass said.
Douglass said Ally Bettencourt and Madi Barrett played strong defensive games.
“Allison was just unbelievable at center back for us and I also thought Madi, on defense, played amazing,” he said.
Douglass also highlighted the play of Connie Patturelli.
“She’s always really good and is our Swiss army knife,” Douglass said. “She plays our wide for us and she plays in the middle sometimes, so she really does it all for us.”
The Tanners host Beverly at 4 p.m. on Friday.
