LYNN — The city’s high school girls’ soccer tournament kicked off on Tuesday as the Lynn English Bulldogs faced off against the St. Mary’s Spartans at Manning Field.
The occasion marked the return of the Lynn City Tournament after a yearlong absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were plenty of familiar faces as the Bulldogs had all of their starters return from last season. St. Mary’s, on the other hand, is in the middle of a youth movement as a number of underclassmen got playing time last year.
The scoring started early in the match as St. Mary’s was piling on the pressure in the final third. The first goal came in the seventh minute as freshman Brooke Moloney hit a beautiful left-footed strike that gave the Spartans an early lead. With the shot going in off the crossbar, there was nothing that the English goalkeeper could do to stop the shot.
The majority of the first half was spent in the final third for St. Mary’s as they made the attacking zone their home. Senior goalkeeper Elysse Newson was tested a lot during the match and besides the two goals, she did rather well. Particularly in the 25th minute, Newton made a beautiful point-blank stop to keep the deficit at one. She did the same in the 30th minute with a St. Mary’s player all alone in the box.
English found most of its success on the counterattack but unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they were unable to get any dangerous chances in the first 40 minutes. Senior Melissa Zayas and sophomore Alisha Jean did their best to create some chances but unfortunately were unsuccessful.
In the 33rd minute, English’s defense cracked as eighth grader Sophie Skabeikis snuck behind the Bulldogs back line and sent a powerful strike into the net. Skabeikis nearly had another goal three minutes later but strayed offside.
As the second half began it was more of the same for the Spartans. For the first 20 minutes English did a good job of withstanding the pressure. Newson continued her great performance by making some impressive saves throughout the second half.
Captains Arianna Garcia, Anadia Whelton, and Amy Gutierrez also helped Newson out with some quality defending.
Skabeikis added to her goal tally as she struck a long-range shot for her second goal of the game in the 25th minute. She nearly secured a hat trick moments later, but the shot rocked off the crossbar. The eighth grader eventually got the hat trick before the 30th minute.
The Bulldogs best chance of the night came in the 30th minute of the second half but unfortunately the shot was sent wide.
In the 32nd minute, Gutierrez went to the ground after a collision and appeared to be in some discomfort. After being attended to by the trainer the senior walked off the field under her own power and was subbed out of the match.
After the match Bulldogs head coach Abby Driscoll said that the team has a lot to work on.
“It’s the first game of the season,” said Driscoll. “St. Mary’s played great, but I’m proud of our defense and our goalie played great.”
English (0-1) will face Lynn Tech in the City Tournament consolation game Saturday (TBD).
St. Mary’s (1-0) takes on Lynn Classical in the City Tournament championship game Saturday (TBD).
