City soccer tournament begins

LYNN – The way the Classical girls soccer team sprinted out to greet goalkeeper Madison Angelli, you?d have thought we?d jumped to Saturday and the Rams had beaten St. Mary?s for the city championship.That wasn?t the case. But you can?t blame them for being jubilant. For the first time in coach Justina Alicudo?s tenure, a Classical team got the better of a Spartans team. And not only did Classical win (avenging, one would assume, last year?s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Spartans in the tournament), they shut St. Mary?s out, 2-0.Classical will play English, a 4-0 winner over Tech in the opener, in Saturday?s championship game (1) at Manning Field.Classical, whose program has improved by leaps and bounds during Alicudo?s stint as coach, never let St. Mary?s up for air in the first 40 minutes, stifling the Spartans and holding them to one shot (albeit a real tester by freshman Mia Nikolakopoulos that Angelli managed to snag point-blank).It was after that save that Classical began to take control.?We?ve been practicing passing and communication and tonight, they did what we asked them to do,” said Alicudo. “We played a quick game.”In hockey parlance, the Rams scored a couple of dirty goals in the first 40, meaning neither one was pretty.?I don?t care,” said Alicudo. “You take them however you get them.”On the first one with 8:35 left in the half, Kaitlin Marcinko put in a rebound off her chest to get it past St. Mary?s Katie Donnelly.The second one came with only 15 seconds left in the half. Taylor Ferraro did all the work on a corner kick, lofting a beautiful bending ball that Donnelly just couldn?t reach. It went over her head, off her fingers, and into the net.?That,” said Alicudo, “was a beautiful kick.”?Give them credit,” said St. Mary?s coach Jim Foley. “They outplayed us and they outcoached us. We came out flat and they took it to us.?And it?s the age-old problem,” he said. “We couldn?t put the ball on net and put it in the net. Their defensive team does a good job. And, of course, giving one up with only 15 seconds left in the half…”The game was a little more even in the second half. Donnelly made some nice saves, and the ball was down the St. Mary?s end of the field a little more. However, Angelli was there again with 5:00 left in the game, snatching a line-drive kick by Kaitlin Deschenes to preserve the shutout.St. Mary?s will play Tech in the consolation game Saturday (9) at Manning.English 4, Tech 0The story of the game, despite English?s four goals, was Tech keeper Coral Gonzalez, who made at least 20 saves, according to Tech coach Jeremy McKeen?s count.?I thought she was tremendous,” said English?s Ed McNeil. “Really. That?s the best goalie they?ve ever had. Make sure you give her all the ink you can.”Gonzalez was one of the team?s MVPs last year as a freshman. Despite losing, McKeen was pretty happy.?(Coral) was great,” he said, “and we?re a defensive team. But we have two strikers this season (Meaghan LeBlanc and Lilanette Nieves) and I?m looking forward to working with them.”English led 1-0 at the half, thanks to a kick from about 25 yards out by Emma Trahant that was scored about five seconds after Gonzalez absolutely robbed a Bulldog teammate.It stayed that way until there were about 17 minutes gone in the second period, when English struck for two goals within 10 seconds.On the first one, Alexa Zayas knocked on in out of a scramble; and on the second, Shanna Zeramby, who did not play last season for the Bulldogs, found the back of the net on an assist from Krista Bowden.Zayas scored her second of the game with only 3:22 left.McNeil has to pretty much start over after losing 16 players off last year?s team (12 to graduation; four who didn?t come out).?But,” he said, “we have some good players. Our striker (Zayas) is a freshman.?And I thought our sweeper (Taylor Sullivan) and Taegon Nelson played very good games too.”