LYNN — After a long year away from Manning Field, the girls soccer teams from Lynn English, Lynn Classical, St. Mary’s, and Lynn Tech opened their seasons in Tuesday’s city tournament, which is raising money in support of Lynn teacher Frank Grealish as he recovers from a house fire.
St. Mary’s and Classical recorded wins in the opening round. The Spartans rolled past Tech, 11-0, while the Rams topped English, 5-1. St. Mary’s and Classical will meet in Saturday’s championship game at Manning Field, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Though St. Mary’s is a younger unit than last season’s team, the Spartans showcased plenty of firepower, led by junior Cameryn Dunn and senior Sophie Skabeikis.
Three minutes into the match, Skabeikis squared a pass to Daniella Leo on the break, and Leo tapped it home for a 1-0 lead.
Later, do-it-all Skabeikis (goal, 3 assists) set up Kaileigh Patterson for a goal that made it 4-0. Skabeikis also scored herself, smashing in a goal off a corner kick.
Head coach Paddy Curran praised his stars for their play and leadership, but was most encouraged by the performance of his younger players.
“I like to emphasize the young girls today,” Curran said. “Of course I want Cameryn Dunn and Sophie Skabeikis to create goals, but I want them to lead on and off the field – and they’ve been doing a great job.”
Some of the younger players Curran was referring to: Patterson, Leo, and Andrea Basta, all of whom netted braces.
“We’ve got a young team, so it was nice to get them involved. They worked really hard over the last two weeks,” Curran said. “Kaileigh is a young girl and it’s her second year on varsity. We’re trying to get her minutes because we lost a lot of seniors. She’s going to get more time this year, so she’ll need to keep practicing, timing her runs, and executing in the box. It worked out for her tonight.”
The Spartans showed, on numerous occasions, they can score in bunches. After the second goal of the game scored by Valentina De La Rosa, less than a minute later, Patterson got on the scoresheet for her first.
Moments later, it was again Patterson finding the back of the net before St. Mary’s quickly found another, courtesy of Basta.
Despite the lopsided score, Tech head coach JD Perry and assistant coach Josselyn Guzman saw progress.
“I think the defense, overall, took the message in at halftime and we just told them, ‘Let’s go,’ and to talk to each other, and they played a lot better in the second half,” Guzman said.
Eighth grader Emelyn Garcia impressed with several second-half shots.
“I thought she played great, considering the circumstances,” Perry said. “It was nothing short of what we’ve been seeing from her since the first day of tryouts. She needs to work on finding her voice on the field – as do others on the team – but that will happen with more confidence.”
In the nightcap, Classical started lightning fast, scoring three goals in the opening 11 minutes. Off a corner kick, McKenna Duncan slotted home the first. Jhoselyn Cisneros Tejada followed up a rebound to make it 2-0, and Mia Duncan added another.
Two minutes later, Duncan set up Tejada for her second. (Tejada completed her hat trick in the second half.)
“She’s (Tejada) a junior and we’ve missed her the last two years, but she came out this year for the team and we’re really happy to have her,” said Classical coach Jessica Gambale. “She’s going to be a great asset for us.”
English coach Peter Pappagianopoulos was encouraged after his team settled in, despite trailing 4-0 at halftime.
“We had a couple of defenders that were hurt today, so we had to mix and match and put people in positions they’ve never practiced before. I’ll take the blame for the beginning of the game,” Pappagianopoulos said. “When they settled down and got used to it, they played well. They’re playing their hardest. They scored four goals in the opening 20 minutes. After that, it was a 1-1 game – I’m proud of my girls.”
The Rams returned just seven players from last year’s team, but Gambale was pleased with how the offense looked.
“The things we’ve been working on in practice came to fruition today, and they were executing everything I was asking of them.”
Pappagianopoulos said he was “proud that his team never stopped, despite being down four goals.”
That showed when English’s Ava Jones broke free in the second half. She beat an offside trap and traveled 20 yards before sticking the ball into the net to make it 5-1.
“She’s a great kid and great worker,” Pappagianopoulos said. “She scored her first goal and she’s been here every day working.”
English plays Tech in Saturday’s consolation game at 9 a.m.
