LYNN — The English boys soccer team kept pace with Salem for the first half of Wednesday evening’s game at Manning Field. But the Witches broke a scoreless tie with six goals in the second half and that was more than enough for a 6-1 win over the Bulldogs in a Northeastern Conference tilt.
“We made too many mistakes defensively in the second half,” English coach Kerry King said after his team surrendered all six goals in the second period. “We’re a young, inexperienced team and it really showed tonight. Salem had a couple dangerous players up front and we made it really easy on them by making some critical errors. We’re growing. At times we look good but at times we make inexcusable errors.”
Bulldogs freshman defender Francisco Portillo scored the lone goal for English.
The first half featured few scoring chances on both sides. Salem spread the ball out wide a bit more than English but none of the Witches chances made it to the back of the net. Bulldogs senior goaltender Cherubin Musangu made three key saves to keep the Witches off the board, two of them came on one-on-one opportunities. At the end of the first half, neither team notched a goal and the game remained in a scoreless tie.
“(At halftime) We talked about being patient and trying to avoid their counter-attacks because they speed up in the middle,” King said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t execute what we talked about. We made a couple mistakes in the middle of the field with their speed guys and they made us pay for it.”
Both teams made their halftime adjustments but it was Salem’s aggressiveness that came to fruition in the opening minutes of the second half. With 35:30 on the clock, Salem’s Edward Santos found an open lane, raced past English’s defense and fired a shot into the bottom-left corner of the net for a 1-0 Witches lead.
Santos added to Salem’s lead three minutes later when he stumbled upon a ball that ricocheted off the top crossbar. Santos kicked the free ball past Musangu to boost the Witches lead to 2-0.
Luke Marc Anu scored on a header with 24:46 to play, stretching Salem’s lead to 3-0. Salem closed the victory with two goals from Emmanuel Olofinmoyin and one from Rene Ninju, mixed in between Portillo’s goal for English for the 6-1 final.
“I have three sophomores and two freshmen out there,” King said. “They’re very skilled players but at times winning the 50-50 balls has been a struggle. We keep making mistakes at times so it’s going to be a learning experience for those guys so hopefully they can grow as the season goes on.”
Still seeking their first win of the young season, the Bulldogs (0-3) visit Everett Friday night (7).
“We have to be more patient offensively and cut back on the mistakes,” King said. “When you make mistakes in the back end of the field, teams are really taking advantage against us right now. The same thing happened in the other two games. We’re a work in progress so we just have to keep working harder.”
