Peabody roars back for victory over English

LYNN – Peabody junior Ben Manoogian had been in a slump, and, well, it was frustrating.?Things just weren?t going in for him,” said Tanner boys soccer coach Stan McKeen, “and that can be frustrating.”That situation ended Monday night at Manning Field in a big way. Manoogian keyed a second-half comeback by the Tanners that gave them a 3-2 win over English.The Bulldogs grabbed a 2-0 lead at the half … something that McKeen was at a loss to explain.?We controlled a lot of the action in that period, but when that happens, and you find yourself down like that, it can affect you,” McKeen said.?We switched things up a little at halftime. We played with only three defensemen and put an extra person up front.”It paid off right away, as Manoogian got the first of his two goals (he assisted on the other one) just about a minute into the half, with an assist from Joao Correia.Manoogian returned the favor at the 10th minute of the period as he set up Correia by sending him in alone on English keeper Kyle Arsenault.By the 20th minute, Manoogian had scored the game-winner, with an assist from tri-captain C.J. Alimonti.Manoogian worked his way to the middle, about 20 yards out from Arsenault, took a feed, and blasted it home.?I think,” said McKeen, “that we got a lot hungrier in the second half.?We had a lot of chances in the first half too.”One of the biggest factors in the game, though, might have been a stiff northwest wind that kicked up right around halftime and blew Peabody?s way for the final 40 minutes.?I have to say that helped us out a bit,” said McKeen.?We were going against it the whole second half, and that didn?t help us a whole lot,” said English coach Kerry King. “That, and we didn?t do a good job marking some of their players.?I?d have to say that Peabody beat us to every 50-50 ball in the second half.”Things started off well for the Bulldogs.After a half-hour delay while the Bulldogs? JV football game against the Tanners finished up, Carlos Valenzuela scored the first of his two goals about six minutes into the game, with an assist from Brian Rovera.The Bulldogs increased their lead to 2-0, again with Valenzuela doing the scoring, this time with an assist from Rovira?s brother, Daniel.