Classical girls soccer pulls one out against English

LYNN – After some of the saves English goalkeeper Kaitlyn Nadeau made in Monday night?s game against Classical, the one that got by her seemed almost unfair.?It?s the worst I?ve ever felt as a coach,” said English?s Ed McNeil after Shannon Magner?s second of two goals, with less than a minute left in the game, propelled the Rams to a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs.?She played so well,” McNeil said of Nadeau. “They (Classical) outplayed us the whole game. Our defensive system worked. We gave them a lot of shots from the outside, and Kaitlyn stopped all of them. Then, on (the winning goal), she reached for it, and it trickled by her. I feel awful.”The teams went into halftime tied 1-1, and when Nadeau robbed Jenn Ierardi blind midway through the second period, it looked as if this one would end up tied.?We kept shooting at her,” said Classical?s Justina Alicudo, “and they were getting blocked, stopped, and cut off at different angles. (Nadeau) did well. She was all over the place. I give her credit.”Classical launched 34 shots in Nadeau?s direction (not all of them reached her), but after several cannon shots — most notably Ierardi?s — Magner?s second goal, set up by Franki Galeazzi (as was the first one), took about three bounces and then a fourth, awkward one, that just eluded Nadeau.?It bounced over her hand,” McNeil said. “It just bounced. She did so well. She was wonderful.”Twenty minutes prior to that, Ierardi came in alone on Nadeau and launched one with full force. But Nadeau stood her ground and caught the ball.?What a save that was,” McNeil said. “She definitely kept us in the game.”McNeil, whose team falls to 3-5, hoped that save provided the impetus to forge what would have been a very satisfying tie.?I saw the clock at the 30-minute mark, and I turned to our trainer and said, ?do you think we can hold on??” he said. “We almost did.”For Alicudo?s part, she?ll take the win.?It wasn?t how we?d expected it would go,” she said. “But it?s a win. Our intensity wasn?t there in the beginning, and when (English) scored its first goal, it kind of caught us flat.”That came almost seven minutes into the game when Katherine Lozano converted Karissa Burton?s free kick into a 1-0 lead. The ball kept bouncing, and got past Classical keeper Jill Strileckis, who had come way out in an attempt to take away the angle. In the 28th minute, Classical tied things up when Magner got her first goal of the day.The second half was played almost exclusively in the English end, as the Rams threw everything they could muster at the Bulldogs.?We played a very defensive game because we have trouble on offense,” said McNeil. “But this is the best Classical team I?ve seen in years. That is a very good team.”Not only that, says Alicudo, “it?s a different game when both our teams are playing each other. It?s Classical-English. Our seniors have never beaten them, so this feels very good.”Despite the loss, McNeil gave huge props to his defense, including Burton, Nicolette Angelli, Haylee Denham, and Caroline Dally.