English girls defeat Pope John in opening game of Lynn city tourney

LYNN – Labor Day has passed. Fall is just ahead and the Beautiful Game has returned to Lynn. The Lynn High School City Tourney takes center stage in the third annual soccerfest at Manning Field.The opening game was the English girls against Pope John. English won 3-0 and advanced to a Saturday matchup with St. Mary’s in the final (3 p.m.). Pope John will play in the consolation game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.Coach Ed McNeil, who has started his fourth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, was encouraged by the turnout for the team, although he had a significant absence. He said before the game that “We lost Megan Forti, our top scorer last year, to a season-ending ACL surgery. She is only a junior and will be ready when the 2009 season starts.”Before the game, Kara Feraco, the Pope John coach, mentioned that she had graduated nine players. She said, “We have six players who have never played soccer before. They will have to learn the game as the season goes along.”English took control from the opening whistle with Jenna Henry repeatedly flying down the left wing and either shooting or crossing the ball into the middle, looking for her strikers. Each time, Pope John just managed to break up the attack.Finally, in the 14th minute, Sarah Hinkle carried the ball down the right wing and crossed it to the left wing, where Ashley Keighley slotted the shot back behind the keeper into the top right corner. This put The Bulldogs on top, 1-0.The English defenders, Marina Biondi, Maura Coyle, Cara Crowley and sweeper Shawna Henry, kept the Pope John attackers from getting to English keeper Brittany Goulet. Half time came with English up 1-0.The second half was a carbon copy of the first: English controlled the ball, and Pope John could not break the tight defense that the Bulldogs set up around Goulet.In the 57th minute, Ashley Keighley added an assist to her goal as she set up Stephanie Breault for her first goal of the year. A beautiful through ball from Keighley behind the Pope John defender caught Breault in full stride, and she put the shot high over the keeper’s hands into the net. English now led, 2-0.English finished the scoring in the 68th minute when Devon Robinson picked up a loose ball, carried to the right wing, and put the ball just inside the right post. This made the score 3-0. Both teams played their reserves for the rest of the game.