SWAMPSCOTT — Over the last few years, every team in the Northeastern Conference has fallen to Marblehead’s boys lacrosse team. But on Thursday night, under the lights at Blocksidge field, Swampscott (4-0) snapped the Magicians’ (1-2) 62-game conference winning streak in a 10-9 final.

As you might have imagined, head coach of the Big Blue, Geoff Beckett, was grinning ear to ear postgame.

“Huge rival win. When the schedules first came out, I circled them on the calendar. I saw the timing of it and I talked to our AD to get it to be a night game because I had a feeling it would be special,” he said. “We have a great group of guys here. I have juniors who’ve been starting for three years. I have seniors who started as freshmen. It’s great to see this group starting to come together.” 

When asked what it meant to hand Marblehead its first conference loss in years, Beckett spoke about the storied rivalry between the two towns. 

“It feels great, especially because of the Swampscott-Marblehead rivalry. It’s one of the greatest rivalries in Massachusetts. It’s not just football – it’s every sport,” Beckett said. “We respect the heck out of that town as much as we hate them, too. It’s a healthy, hateful rivalry and it feels good to be on the upside.” 

“I know we’ve taken our licks over the years from Marblehead and other top schools around the area, so it’s nice to be back and give some back,” he added.

Marblehead coach John Wilkens admitted that he hates losing, but knew the streak wouldn’t last forever. 

“It’s over. It can’t go on forever – still pretty good, in my book,” Wilkens said. “I told the kids we’re the hunted, so it gets harder and harder. I don’t like losing, but I guess the pressure is off a bit and now we have to focus on the next game.” 

With 25 seconds remaining in the first half, Swampscott’s Liam Keaney scored to extend his team’s lead to 6-3. Twenty-one seconds later – in a flash – Jack Hazell tucked another for a four-goal cushion (7-3) at the break. 

“The guys have a ton of energy and they work hard every day at practice. If they see a hole, they’re going to take it,” Beckett said. “It’s tough to keep the energy up as you saw in the third and fourth quarter, but the guys kept fighting for it.” 

In the second half, Marblehead started to control possession and make the most of its chances. Gio Garibotto scored three straight to get the Magicians back into the game (9-6) with 2:30 to go in the third quarter. 

“He had a nice game,” Wilkens said. 

Fast forward to 54 seconds remaining in the game. Reece Moore of the Magicians scored to cut it to one, 10-9, but unfortunately for Marblehead, it couldn’t find its equalizer. 

“We dug a hole and didn’t play well defensively in the first half. We didn’t move our feet enough. Credit to Swampscott – they played well,” Wilkens said. “I thought our offense showed up in the second half and it was a little bit too late.” 

After the game, Beckett praised freshman Chase Ruso for his hat trick, as well as the team’s overall performance. 

“He had a fantastic performance,” Beckett said. “He made a ton of great plays tonight, along with a great team performance.” 

For Marblehead, the streak is over, and Wilkens knew it was always going to be hard after last season’s strong regular season and postseason run.

“We’re trying to figure it out. It’s tough to come off a season like last year and it’s tough to live up to it,” he said. “We’ve got work cut out for ourselves.” 

Swampscott will look to remain perfect when it hosts Salem on Monday at 4:30 p.m., while Marblehead aims to rebound on the road against Danvers this Saturday at 10 a.m.