English, Classical girls in 1-1 stalemate

LYNN – To many people, the Super Bowl or the World Series is the ultimate in sports; to the Lynn soccer community it is the Classical-English matches.Records mean nothing. Anyone who has played in these games remembers everything that ever happened, even if it was 20 years ago.Monday night at Manning Field, both games finished in ties. The girls opened the festivities in the 4 p.m. game and played to a 1-1 tie. Both teams feature outstanding keepers, senior co-captain Courtney Sullivan for Classical and sophomore Brittany Goulet for English. The score at halftime was 0-0 because the defenders of both teams stuffed any opportunities that the other team had. The defenders for English are Marina Biondi, Maria Beaulieu, Maura Coyle and freshman Shawna Henry at sweeper. Henry, more than anyone else on the Bulldogs team, kept the Ram strikers off the board.For Classical, Katie Fitzgerald, Jillian Adams and Kelly Devaney shut down Kristi Rebidue and Megan Forti.The second half opened with the same intensity by both teams. This lasted until the 50th minute when co-captain Bryanna Connolly collected a pass outside the top right corner of the area and lofted a shot high over the keeper’s head into the left corner. This was the first and only time that she was left unmarked in the game, and she came through with the go-ahead goal. Eight minutes later, co-captain/midfielder Jillian Reddy made an attack down the right wing only to be taken down in the area for a penalty shot. Reddy had to be removed from the game due to an injured ankle in the collision. Connolly took the PK and missed low and just outside the left post. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Rams.The frantic pace continued until the 78th minute, just 2 minutes from the end. Jenna Henry, the English striker, was taken down in the area and the referee awarded English a penalty shot. The Bulldogs’ top shooter, Forti, calmly drilled the ball low left to tie the game at 1-1. The game ended with both teams leaving everything they had out on the field.English coach Ed McNeil, whose team’s record now goes to 1-5-1 (0-4-1 NEC), said, “We dominated the play and had the most chances to score, but the ball didn’t go in.” He continued, “We are 1-0-1 with Classical this year. Our biggest game will be Oct. 27, the rematch.”Classical coach Marcy Durgin was disappointed, being only 2 minutes from her team’s first win. She said, “We will continue to work harder to get the first win. We need it.”Both teams play in a tripleheader Wednesday at Manning Field: St. Mary’s-Arlington Catholic in the first game, Classical-Saugus at 5:15 and English-Marblehead at 7:30.