LYNN — The Lynn English girls soccer team (1-6) was defeated by Malden (3-5) on a chilly Tuesday evening at Manning Field, falling 3-0.
From the opening few plays, the all-important early momentum belonged to Malden. The team was quicker to loose balls and were able to get their cleats in the passing lanes, causing the English offense to struggle to retain possession.
After Malden snagged the first tally of the game, English received some momentum from defender Alisha Jean who boomed a kick out of trouble to prevent a Malden scoring chance.
Moments later, she got back on defense to prevent more potential danger, bringing a few members of the English faithful to their feet.
Later on in the half, the Bulldogs’ Aida Bellal caught eyes as well with two consecutive dribbling moves down the left side of the field — leaving two Malden defenders looking at her backside.
English goaltender Emma Faris-Hawes then took an aggressive chance that nearly cost her team a goal – leaving a large portion of the net open behind her. However, the Tornadoes’ striker just missed the left side of the goal on the ground.
In the waning minutes of the half, Faris-Hawes made her best stop of the night in highlight-reel fashion by diving to make a save on a bouncing shot directed towards the right side of the net.
The first half came to a close with the score reading 1-0 in favor of the visiting Tornadoes.
There was some early life from English to open the second half, the momentum came to a halt after two more Malden players found twine – one on a rebound chance, the other on a breakaway down mainstreet.
Despite the three goals allowed on the box score, English goaltender Emma Faris-Hawes was a bright spot on Tuesday.
The senior captain utilized all parts of her body to record saves, and was able to move left and right with ease to read opposing shot attempts. Her reasoning for why she was able to stop so many shots: preparation and knowledge.
“I love to do very specific goalie warmups before the game, that helps a lot,” Faris-Hawes said. “Just using my experience from past coaches and stuff like that.”
Faris-Hawes also credits her success to the defense in front of her, as well as the coaching staff, as she continues to gel with her new teammates that make up a rather young English team.
“The defense is always a strong part of why I can do what I do, especially the coaching from the sidelines, too,” she said.
Having lost nine seniors from last year’s group, English Head Coach Abby Driscoll expects chemistry and overall advancement to improve over time with the team currently relying on lots of underclassmen.
“We’re a work in progress. We’re a young team,” Driscoll said. “Every game is getting better than the last.”
Part of that work in progress includes less watching of the opposition, and relying more on aggressiveness to create possession, Driscoll said.
“We’re trying to be less reactive. We want to play defense, gain possession, and keep possession when we get it rather than waiting to see what the other team’s going to do,” Driscoll said.
Next on the schedule for English is another game at Manning Field, this time against Somerville. The game will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 3:45 p.m.
Joey Barrett can be reached at [email protected].
