LYNN — The Lynn Classical girls soccer team controlled play from start to finish and found the back of the net just enough to beat Lynn English 2-0 in the first round of the Greater Boston League playoffs Thursday.
The win marked the second time in three days the Rams earned the shutout at Manning Field over their Lynn rivals.
“Was it our best performance? No,” Classical coach Mike Schena said. “We dominated the field, but we didn’t finish. We had about 14 shots on net, 12 corner kicks. It happens.”
Jayda Mateo was the only Classical player to finish on her chances with two goals. Kitty Mannion and Mary Collins each had one assist.
“Kudos to Jayda Mateo for two more goals,” Schena said. “She’s playing great for us and I’m proud of her. Molly Mannion out in the back field played an aggressive game. I thought she played fabulous too.”
English didn’t put much pressure on the Rams, but after a 5-0 loss to Classical on Tuesday, the Bulldogs defense made some progress — led by goalkeeper Elysse Newson.
“We kept them to two this game,” English coach Abby Driscoll said. “I’m proud of the way the girls played defense and I’m really proud of our goalkeeper Elysse Newson. I think she had a great game.”
Classical got on the offensive right away. The Rams had already had chances on four corner kicks midway through the first half, but some nice saves by Newson and a few fouls kept the game scoreless.
“We didn’t finish (Thursday),” Schena said. “That was our biggest demise. We anticipated the ball too much. We didn’t really go to the ball. I thought our touches were off.”
Kitty Mannion finally hit Mateo on a nice touch pass and the junior outran the defense and scored on a shot to the left side of the net to put Classical up 1-0 before the second half.
That would be all Classical needed in this one. The Bulldogs only forced Rams goalkeeper Anna Flaherty to play two balls, the best chance coming on a shot by Melissa Zayas from outside the box that was easily handled.
A long pass from Collins found Mateo’s foot again midway through the second half and Newson got a piece of her shot, but it slipped by to put Classical up 2-0. The Rams controlled possession the rest of the way to close out the win.
“Classical is a good team, I wish them the best of luck,” Driscoll said. “But there’s nothing more we could ask for from our team. We lost by less than we did (Tuesday) so we’re obviously making some improvement.”
English caps the season at 1-5-1 and will return all of its starters for next year.
Classical moves on to the semifinals of the GBL playoffs, with a game on the road at Somerville Monday (TBD).
“I’ll take the win but we got a lot of work to do,” Schena said. “I got a lot of work to do if we’re going to compete against Somerville and Revere. (Friday at practice) we’ll focus on what we need to do better and there is a list. But I’m proud of the girls too. I’ll take the victory. It’s their first playoff win in a long time and I’m excited for them. But to be at that level we have work to do.”
