English boys win city soccer crown on shootout

LYNN – Once the English boys soccer team found its way into the Lynn City Tournament final Saturday, the Bulldogs didn’t pass up an opportunity to win the whole thing ? which they won with a 3-2 decision over St. Mary’s after a shootout.Click here for a photo gallery.The Bulldogs got their berth in the final thanks to a forfeit of the first-round game by Lynn Tech, which had defeated English Wednesday but discovered afterward it had used an ineligible player.English was on fire from the opening whistle. The game was less than a minute old when sophomore striker Leo Awokang sent in junior striker Jefferson Fobellah alone on Spartans keeper Michael Campbell. Fobellah made no mistake as he slotted the ball in the low right corner to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.In the 13th minute, English struck again. Freshman Franck Wansi took a corner kick from the left wing side. The ball came right down the line and eight to 10 players all came together in front of the keeper.The keeper was boxed in among the attackers and defenders so that he could not get near the ball. It went over his outstretched hands and settled in the far corner of the net to make it 2-0 Dogs.St. Mary’s cut the lead in half in the 29th minute. In a scramble in front of English keeper Alex Zayas, Spartan co-captain Julian Yourawski put back a rebound that bounced off the defense, just beating the diving keeper.Spartans coach Mike D’Agostino must have had some words of inspiration for his players, as they came out for the second half all fired up. They threw caution to the wind, sending many attackers at the Bulldogs. English made a few counter-attacks at the St. Mary’s net during the second half that were quickly stopped by Spartans keeper Helio Meirelles Neto, who started the second half.In the 71st minute, Ralph Bertrand had a corner kick that came down on the six yard line, bounced off a couple of English defenders trying to clear it and went into the net over Zayas, who was sprawled on the ground trying to make the save, tying the game at 2-2.The final whistle came nine minutes later with the score tied. The MIAA will not allow overtime during the regular season so the real score that goes on their records is a 2-2 tie. However, the shootout was allowed to determine the City Champion and the owner of the trophy.The shootout is five players from each team, with both teams using the same net. English shot first with Awokang missing. St. Mary’s Alexander Alleyne likewise missed.English’s Marc Sesanga scored English’s first goal to make it 1-0, but Bertrand missed for St. Mary’s. A.J. Xhemali gave English a two-goal edge before Yourawski got St. Mary’s on the board.From there, it was all goals, as Wansi and Fobellah sandwiched goals around a score by Michael Russo of St. Mary’s. That made it 4-2 in the shootout, and it was academic after that.”This is a tough way to get into the finals,” English coach Kerry King said. “We had a second chance and we took advantage of it. Our midfield needs more work on transition between the defenders and the forwards. Our keeper was awesome, especially in the shootout. We are looking forward to the start of the league season.”D’Agostino was disappointed, but said, “the first quick goal set us back a bit but we re-grouped at half-time and came back to tie them. Both teams played well. Now we have to get ready for a big game on Monday.”CONSOLATIONTech 5, Classical 1The Rams had seven players missing either due to injuries or prior commitments.Tech opened the scoring at the 16-minute mark. Francisco Franco, the sophomore sharpshooter, dribbled in alone and beat the Classical keeper short side low to put Tech on top 1-0. In the 35th minute, Classical tied the score. Joe Field fed Tevin Young a nice through ball that he tucked under the diving Jose Alas (the Tech keeper). The half ended with no further scoring.The second half was all Tech. In the 46th minute, Franco hit for his second after a scramble in front of the net following a Tech c