Classical girls soccer falls to Pope John in tourney nightcap

LYNN – The Classical girls faced off against the Pope John Tigers from Everett in the second game in the Lynn Soccer Tourney.Second year Classical coach Marcy Durgin was looking to start off the year right, led by her three captains, Jillian Reddy, Courtney Sullivan and Bryanna Connolly. However, at the end, the Tigers emerged with the win, 1-0.Coach Durgin said before the game, “we have a very young group of defenders ( 1 junior, 2 sophomores and 1 freshman) that will learn as they get more game experience.”The defense is backboned by keeper Courtney Sullivan who has been in the net for four years.This was as exciting as the first game that saw seven goals scored.For the first 17 minutes the game was dead even when the quick Pope John forwards got a break from mid-field on the slower Ram defenders. Sophomore Ashley Orozco slipped a pass from senior captain Jacki Carlson under the diving Classical keeper into the bottom left corner of the net.The rest of the first half was played between the penalty areas with neither team getting any outstanding chances to score. The half ended with Pope John in the lead 1-0.The second half was a contrast in styles, Classical throwing caution to the wind and attacking at every opportunity while Pope John was trying to hold on to its one goal lead. As Classical added more players to the attack, Pope John brought more players back to play defense. It turned the game into a kick and run game. The contest was whether Classical would score and force a penalty kick shootout to determine the winner or would the clock run out and make the Pope John Tigers the winner. This time the clock won. Pope John will play St. Mary’s on Saturday at 5:00 in the Championship game. Classical will take on long-standing cross-town rivals, the Bulldogs from English in a 1:00 game. Classical opens its NEC season on Friday with at game in Revere.