Plenty of action in Classical-Beverly tie

LYNN – It was one of those rare instances on Thursday at Manning Field where Beverly?s Kristin Simpson and Classical?s Justina Alicudo could talk to their teams and say that a tie was OK as the teams battled to a 0-0 tie after 80 action-filled minutes.Unlike most scoreless ties that you might see in soccer, this game wasn?t dominated by defense as both teams were able to generate plenty of pressure but goalkeepers Madison Angelli of Classical and Beverly?s Kyra Wolonsavich each turned aside the six shots they faced.?Both teams played really hard,” Alicudo said. “My girls played great. It just came down to a matter of finishing and both goalies made some great saves.”The Rams (3-3-3, 1-3-2 NEC North) were the ones who were doing the pressuring through much of the first half as their back line of Taylor Ferraro, Devyn Astuccio and Ally Dunnigan kept the high-powered Beverly attack from getting a foothold.That defense allowed the Rams to begin to hem the Panthers into their own defensive zone. Wolonsavich, however, kept Classical at bay. Her best stop came just past the midpoint of the half when the Rams broke in and she was able to make a jumping save on a bid from Jenn Ierardi from 10 yards out.In all, Classical outshot the Panthers, 4-1, in the opening 40 minutes but the teams headed into halftime scoreless.?We?ve been battling having slow starts all year,” Simpson said. “It seems like in every game we come out slow. But the girls definitely picked it up in the second half.”Whatever Simpson said to her troops during the halftime break was well received as the Panthers came out and sustained pressure for the first time all night.Beverly nearly made the pressure pay off quickly as it worked the ball into the middle of the field for a shot from Meghan Berking that had Angelli beat but hit squarely off the crossbar and was cleared out of harm?s way by the Classical defense.The Panthers (4-3-1, 4-3-1 NEC North) continued to put the heat on but Angelli came up with another big-time save when she stoned freshman Megan Vien from close range with 25:00 left.Gradually, the Rams were able to begin to get the ball back to Wolonsavich?s end of the field and they nearly broke the scoreless deadlock with 18:45 left as Ierardi charged down the right wing and made a slick feed to Kaitlin Marcinko, whose shot was turned away.It proved to be the last quality scoring chance that either team could manage as the defenses took control the rest of the way to ensure that both teams came away with a well-deserved point.?Beverly is such a well-respected program so I will take the tie,” Alicudo said. “The girls came out fast and really played well.”