Five-minute stretch in first half sinks English against Salem

The Lynn English soccer team put together another solid game on Monday at Manning Field against Salem. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, it was a five-minute stretch late in the first half that proved to be the difference.The Witches took advantage of a pair of little mistakes to score twice and then held on from there to take a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs.?That?s been our story all year,” English coach Kerry King said. “We played really well. We just don?t have that one finisher that you need up front. I can?t fault the effort. The kids played tough and physical.”Neither team could do much in the offensive end over the first 10 minutes as keepers Kyle Arsenault of English and Salem?s Nicholas Capra each made a couple of nice saves. The back-and-forth play in the midfield continued until the 28th minute of the first half when Salem caught a break.Gabe Andreotolla took advantage of a small breakdown in the English defense to find some room and fire a quick shot past Arsenault for a 1-0 lead.Just under five minutes later, the Bulldogs? deficit doubled.Off a cross from the right side, Dalvin Alexandre fought off a defender and was able to knock the ball down and chip a shot past Arsenault for a 2-0 lead.?We happened to make a couple of mistakes and we paid for them,” King said.Trailing by two, the Bulldogs had to try to attack Capra?s end of the field as they began to level off the play in the second 40 minutes.The pressure eventually led to a couple of quality scoring chances. First, Joshua Osawe worked behind the defense and dribbled into a box before firing a shot that went just wide of the left post.Then with just over five minutes left, Eric Rodriquez had a chance from the right wing but his shot went high over the goal.?It?s kind of been Murphy?s Law for us this year,” King said. “We?re playing tough and physical but we are lacking the one kid that can score a goal when we need it. We had a couple of chances and didn?t take advantage of them. But the kids really played hard right to the end.”