Soccer twinbill brings mixed results

LYNN – It was rivalry night at Manning Field on Monday as Classical and English met in a soccer doubleheader that delivered mixed results for both teams.In the opener, the Classical boys paid off some serious offensive pressure in the second half as Keregeya Nasibu finished off a Peter Mafo pass with just over five minutes left to give the Rams a hard-fought 1-0 victory.The nightcap was a rematch of the Lynn City Tournament girls final and played out much like that game did as English?s defense frustrated the Rams into mistakes and kept Classical?s scoring chances to a minimum as the game ended in a scoreless tie.The opening game of the day looked like it might be a Rams runaway as Classical put on heavy pressure in the English end for much of the first 20 minutes.It was only the outstanding goalkeeping of Kyle Arsenault that kept the game scoreless as he robbed Abitalib Girdia twice and then stoned Tyler Way?s point-blank chance.English, meanwhile, could generate very little pressure at Strati Saranteas? end of the field as he had to make only one stop in the first 40 minutes.?We had some good chances in the first half but English also played very well defensively,” Classical coach Rob Upton said. “They didn?t give us a lot of room.”The Rams? best chance came off the right foot of Nasibu, who found room in the penalty area but rang his shot off the crossbar late in the half to send the teams to the break scoreless.?Classical has tremendous speed and I thought that we did a great job for the most part of keeping them to the outside,” English coach Kerry King said.The second half began in nearly the opposite way that the first did as it was the Bulldogs who generated their first sustained pressure of the game.Eric Rodriguez nearly gave English the lead but he fired his chance wide of the goal. Luis Dejesus had another chance minutes later but Saranteas made a nice save at the right post.After taking English?s best punch, the Rams began to counterpunch as they took back control of the game for the final 18 minutes.Nasibu just missed on a shot before Arsenault made a nice diving save on Issa Jalloh?s bid with 16:00 left. The constant pressure would finally pay off when Mafo dribbled down the right wing and chipped a pass to Nasibu, who roofed a shot under the crossbar to give Classical the lead.?We told the kids that they had to stick together and that?s what got us through,” Upton said. “This is always a tough game because it?s two rivals and there?s never an easy game in the NEC.”English pushed to try to tie the game late, even pulling Arsenault out of the net to attack, but Classical was able to hold on in the final seconds.?It?s a tough one because my kids played so well,” King said. “We had a couple of chances and couldn?t finish them.”GIRLS SOCCEREnglish 0, Classical 0The girls game proved to be 80 minutes of frustration for the Rams as English?s lockdown defense befuddled them. Despite outshooting the Bulldogs 12-4 in the game, many of those shots came from non-scoring areas and the ones that did threaten were turned aside by English?s Kaitlin Nadeau.?We knew that (English) was going to come out hard on defense and that?s what they did,” Classical coach Justina Alicudo said. “They held back and didn?t put a lot of pressure on us. We just didn?t execute like we needed to on offense.”Across the way, the emotions were the exact opposite as the Bulldogs were happy to see their game plan work to perfection.?They?re stronger than us but we did a really good job on defense,” English coach Ed McNeil said. “And any time they got something through, Kaitlin was right there to make the save. She?s turned into an all-star goaltender now.”The Rams (3-1-2) dominated the play from the get-go, earning three corners in the first five minutes. But each time, English was able to safely clear the ball out of harm?s way.Classical continued to apply pressure, but the Bulldogs defense, led by Hayley Denham, Taylor Sullivan and Caitlin Geaney, was