Revere girls soccer defeats English 2-1

In a game at Revere’s Della Russo Stadium under an overcast sky, the Revere girls soccer team squeaked out a 2-1 win over Lynn English.Revere coach Natalie Lyons, in her rookie year at the helm of the Patriots, brought the team into the game with a 5-8-1 record (3-8-1 NEC). Having played on the South Shore and at Bridgewater State College, she commented, “I am just getting used to the teams and the season will be over next week. We have improved steadily since the first day of practice. We will have to do some covering as our co-captain and sweeper, Lisa Polsonetti, is out for the game.”Ed McNeil brought a very young Bulldog team (2 seniors on a 22-player roster) into the game with a record of 2-9-3 (1-8-3 NEC). He said, “We have to be focused from the opening whistle and then we will do well.”English did not play well in the first 20 minutes of the game, but followed that with 60 minutes of excellent team soccer. However, the first 20 minutes were all that Revere needed to score two goals and then hang on for dear life for the remaining 60 minutes to clinch the win.Revere opened the scoring at the ten-minute mark when a shot by a Patriot striker was deflected in a diving save by sophomore English keeper Brittany Goulet. The ball bounced to Revere senior striker Amanda Wineberg, who had the empty net in front of her and made the score Revere 1, English 0. There was no assist as the ball was last played by the keeper. Two minutes later, Revere scored again in what proved to be the winning goal. Yvonne Rincon, a sophomore striker, carried the ball down the right wing and crossed it into the arc, where Marisa Parent ran onto the ball and one-timed it into the right corner. English keeper Goulet had no chance to save the shot. That made the score Revere 2, English 0.Lyons then put Parent back at sweeper, filling the spot of Polsonetti. Parent’s speed was too much for the English strikers.On the English side, the Bulldogs also have an outstanding freshman sweeper. Shawna Henry controlled the English defense like an experienced senior. Her clearing passes with either foot shut down the speedy Revere strikers, and when they got the ball in the Bulldog end, her speed and tackling skills stopped the Revere attack for the rest of the game. In the 28th minute, English cut the Revere lead in half. Sophomore Megan Forti took the restart after a foul about 30 yards out near the top left corner of the area. She blasted the ball over Revere keeper Melissa Adreani into the top of the net to make the score Revere 2, English 1. The goal was Forti’s sixth of the season. The first half ended with no further damage by either team.The entire second half belonged to English. The English team seemed to gain more confidence as the second half wore on. Jenna Henry, captain Kristi Rebidue, and Forti put relentless pressure on the beleaguered Patriot defense. Only the goalkeeping by Adreani kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. Revere hung on to that thin one-goal lead. When the game ended, both teams had exhausted themselves. Revere’s record moves up to 6-8-1 and English drops to 2-10-3.After the game, Lyons complimented the play of the English team. She said, “They gave us all we could handle. We had to play 80 minutes to get the win. We would have scored a few more goals if it wasn’t for (Shawna Henry) at sweeper.”McNeil was happy with the last 60 minutes but not with the first 20.”When we can put a whole game together we can play with most of the league,” he said. “We are very young and we have a tough time competing against club team players who play soccer 12 months a year.”