MARBLEHEAD — There’s nothing like a good ole rivalry, as Swampscott and Marblehead boys soccer teams went head-to-head at Piper Field. In the end, it was the Magicians who earned bragging rights over Swampscott, prevailing 2-1. 

Almost nearly a year ago (Sept. 11, 2023), Swampscott beat Marblehead 3-0 at Blocksidge Field. A full year later, Marblehead returned the favor. 

Marblehead came out of the gates firing as it has been doing in recent games. Junior, Miles Fontela-Tuttle, continued his fine form scoring two goals to give Marblehead an early 2-0 lead in the first half.

“We knew it was going to be an intense cross-town rivalry, it has been like this since I’ve been a coach and we were fortunate to get the first (goal) to go and the second (goal) after that,” Marblehead head coach Elmer Magaña said. 

Despite trailing at half, Swampscott didn’t give up and pushed to get back into the game. Swampscott’s lone goal came in the second half as junior midfielder, Milad Sassin, chipped in a loose ball to give them hope.

Magaña praised Swampscott in their efforts to come back into the game.

“They matched our intensity for 20 minutes and that is when their goal came in,” Magaña said. “I reminded the guys that we went into their house last year and lost that game. This rivalry tends to go whoever plays at home, usually goes out with the win. I had to keep reminding the guys to defend our turf.” 

Swampscott’s head coach Adam Bailey admitted the team went down a level after conceding the opening goal. 

“We started off really well, we played solid for the first ten minutes. We let in a goal that we probably shouldn’t have, hung our heads a little bit and Marblehead dominated the rest of the first half,” Bailey said. 

The second half was a different story for the Big Blue as they showed grit by battling for loose balls and controlling the pace.

“In the second half we played much better, scored a goal, and got very close to tying it up,” Bailey said. 

Although Swampscott came up short, Bailey was very encouraging of his team and gave them some key life and on-the-field advice.

“I was stressing to the boys that you just have to move forward. You are going to come against things in life and on the field that don’t go your way and you just have to move forward,” Bailey said.

Swampscott will look to bounce back on Wednesday when it travels to Winthrop for a 4:30 p.m. game. Marblehead will look to keep the winning streak going on Wednesday when it travels to Peabody for a clash with the Tanners at 4 p.m. 

Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism.