The Danvers Varsity Girls Soccer Team traveled to Peabody Friday night for an N.E.C. battle.  The two teams played the first game of the season with the Falcons prevailing 2-0.  Danvers came into the game riding a 3 game winning streak and posting 3 straight shutouts.  Peabody lost their prior game, 2-0 to Beverly.

 

"I told the girls to erase from out minds the 2-0 victory from the first game of the year.  Last year we beat them 5-1 in our first game and then were lucky to leave with a 2-2 tie later on in the season.  Peabody is always a struggle and I knew they would be much more difficult the second time around."

 

Danvers would get on the board very quickly in this one.  The visitors were awarded a corner kick and had sophomore Georgia Prouty take it.  She hit a rocket on a line, right at the Peabody keeper who seemed surprised to see it coming right at her with pace.  She attempted the save but the ball skimmed off her hands and into the net for the unassisted goal.  With the 1 goal lead Danvers played with confidence and maintained an edge in play.  The Falcons passed the ball extremely well using combinations of mids, Teagan Price, Courtney Hinchion and Olivia St. Pierre along with defenders Ryley Crosby and Reese Holland.  The Falcons got some great scoring chances from wings Lila Doucette, Molly Godfried and Prouty and a bunch of excellent shots from freshman, St. Pierre.  Senior Captain Mikayla Shaffaval along with junior Holland stayed strong defensively, winning every 50 / 50 ball.   Senior captain and goalie, Emily Goddard made 7 saves in the half and made great decisions on when to come out of her net and play the ball with her feet.  Despite out-shooting the Tanners 12-7, the game remained tied at halftime.

 

"I told the girls I felt that was our best half of soccer so far this season.  We possessed the ball extremely well and we had lots of open space in the middle of the field.  That was the sharpest our 1 and 2 touch passing has looked."

 

Danvers continued to press in the second half.  This time they out-shot Peabody 11 - 4 but still couldn't find the back of the net a second time.  Senior Striker Ellie Anderson, combined with junior Krysta Zamejtis and St. Pierre several times but couldn't finish the play.  Junior Skylar Laws had a solid second half challenging for loose balls and freshman Addi McCarty played well at both striker and center back.  Danvers had a couple of restarts that were narrowly missed by St. Pierre and Prouty.  But it was the stingy team defense that was the determining factor in this one.  When all was said and done, Danvers had earned the hard fought, 1-0 win.

 

"We played very well tonight.  We limited their chances and had many of our own.  We shared the ball well and were able to generate a lot of 2 v 1 type breakouts.  It was frustrating not to get a second goal but I'm pleased that the girls were able to win a tight game like that.  Olivia St. Pierre was great tonight.  She really dominated and controlled play in both halves.  She had some shots that just missed by a couple of feet and she also defended extremely well in the midfield.  There were many moments when her technical skill was on display as she dribbled by several defenders.  She played awesome."

 

"It's not easy to beat Peabody and we were able to do it twice this season.  I'm pleased that we've put together 4 straight wins and even more happy that they've all been shutouts.  We've been getting a little better each game and I felt we took a big step forward tonight."

 

Danvers improves to 6-2-1 with the win.

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