LYNN — English boys soccer coach Kerry King believes this year’s team can break the program’s recent trend of missing out on the state tournament. The Bulldogs have a mix of experience and speed, and will hope to parlay that into a memorable postseason run.
“So far we’ve had a great preseason,” King said. “I have six returning starters and 11 returners with varsity experience. All of them worked extremely hard over the offseason and they’re in extremely good shape.”
Last year’s Bulldogs finished the season at 4-8-4. Among those who graduated from the program are Julio Cora, one of English’s leading scorers, Zach Arsenault and Cherubim Musangu.
“We were in the thick of a tournament bid until we stumbled a little bit down the stretch, toward the middle of the season,” King said. “We were competitive last season, we just made some silly mistakes. We were a little inexperienced in some positions last year and that hurt us.”
English will rely on its four senior captains, defenders Andric Barrios and Ryan Zollo, midfielder Yonel Espinoza and striker Chris Lazo, to lead the team this fall.
“They’re terrific leaders,” King said. “They’re all very motivated and I think they’re ready to bring great senior leadership this year.”
Defender Obed Baswa returns for his senior season.
“He’s had a terrific preseason,” King said. “I think he’s going to be one of the better players in the league. I’m expecting big things from him.”
Also returning are junior forward Ryan Lima and sophomore midfielders Alberto Ampudia and Jalen Coriolan.
In net, the Bulldogs will turn to freshman Jack Mancaniello.
“Sometimes it can be a little concerning putting a freshman in net,” King said. “He’s played a lot of high-level club soccer. He has traveled all of New England playing club soccer tournaments and has performed excellent. We’re going to be very strong in net this year.”
Through the first few weeks of the preseason, English has homed in on fitness and defense. King said the Bulldogs will look to use those two phases to their advantage this season.
“We’re really focusing on keeping shape, especially defensively,” King said. “We’re working on our fitness. We feel we have a quick team. We’re going to use that to our advantage. We feel that if we can keep our defensive shape, we’re going to play well this year. We’ll play a disciplined brand of soccer.”
King expects the Northeastern Conference will test English day in and day out.
“The NEC is a competitive league,” King said. “With the exclusion of the four GBL teams, plus Revere, I think it opens up the league a little more. Teams like Beverly and Danvers are very good soccer teams. We won’t be as deep as we were last year but it’s still going to be a competitive league overall.”
The Bulldogs open the season next Wednesday (5) when they take on Tech in the Lynn City Tournament.
“The kids have had this marked on the calendar since our first meeting in June,” King said. “We’re really optimistic. We feel we can be a solid soccer team this season. They can’t wait to get the season started.”
