MARBLEHEAD — The Marblehead and Saugus boys soccer teams squared off in a Northeastern Conference showdown at SSG Christopher N. Piper Field. It was an intense game that saw yellow cards, off-the-line clearances, and a handful of tackles.

In the end, Marblehead continued its strong start, defeating the Sachems, 3-0, to protect home turf.

The first 40 minutes saw each side find chances, but neither prevailed in a scoreless half.

“We held our own,” said Saugus coach Guillermo Sepulveda. “We were as good as they were the entire first half.”

For Marblehead, coach Elmer Magaña credited Saugus for its physical play and early pressure.

“We told the guys that Saugus was going to bring it to us. They’re skillful and a gritty team that plays physical,” Magaña said. “They have improved a lot over the last two years. We tell our guys not to take their opponents for granted, but at times, we forget to play our game. I give credit to Saugus. They put us under pressure in that first half.” 

But come the second half, Marblehead started to apply pressure, and six minutes into the half, Jared Halpern found the scoresheet. A free kick was delivered into the box and Dylan Gilmore made contact with the ball, which fell to Halpern, who fired it into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

“I like that we made contact initially. Sometimes, we struggle to make contact either on corners or free kicks. I think it was Dylan Gilmore who made the initial contact and then Jared picked it up and put it in. I was happy there were two Magicians making contact,” Magaña said.

Then, with less than 20 minutes remaining, Stefan Shepard was through on goal. Saugus goalie Xavier Martinez made a critical save, but the ball rebounded to Kyle Hart who rebounded and made it 2-0. 

“Kyle has been improving throughout the season. He’s able to time the runs perfectly when the ball gets to the outside. He’s very skillful with his right and left foot. He can be a passer and he’s a good striker of the ball,” Magaña said.

Hart said “it feels nice” to find the back of the net.

“I think we were knocking on the door the whole game,” he said. “We had some offside calls [and] we just needed to break through. I was just lucky I was in the right spot and received nice passes from my teammates.”

Hart wasn’t done there, as he finished off another goal. This time, the feed came from Ilan Druker. 

“My teammate, Ilan, was coming down the wing and I was just trying to find some open space and give him a lane to pass to. He made a nice pass and I was able to tap it home in the bottom corner,” Hart said. “It was a nice play by him.” 

Despite defeat, Sepulveda reinforced how much he loves his group. 

“This is the best team I’ve ever coached – hands down,” he said. “The captains are the best I’ve ever coached and this group is the best. This group is the best because of the leadership.”

The Sachems look to get back to winning ways on Friday when they welcome Ipswich at 4:30 p.m. Marblehead will try to keep its home-field momentum intact against Danvers the same evening (4 p.m.).