Emma Trahant, right, celebrates with teammates. Item File Photo
The English girls soccer team may not be the most talented group in the Northeastern Conference, but it’s been a fun bunch to watch so far this year.
English’s scoreless tie with Gloucester last week was probably the most exciting soccer game I’ve seen so far this season, although that’s not saying a whole lot since the season is still young. But I was on the edge of my metaphorical seat.
The Bulldogs have a lot of trouble putting the ball in the net, but their defense is very solid, so I foresee a couple more games like this in their future. Making a run at the tournament is not impossible for English; sure, it won’t beat the elite teams in the NEC like Danvers or Peabody, but a .500 record isn’t out of the question if the Bulldogs could just generate some offense.
Tommi Hill and Kerry Robles have both been great backstops for English. Robles had 30 saves in English’s loss to Peabody. Some goalies don’t rack up 30 saves in two weeks or a month. And Hill looked calm, cool and collected in the scoreless tie.
I wish that the Lynn City tournament had given us a chance to see Classical and English square off because I have a feeling that matchup will be a battle. English must be looking for some payback after getting swept by the Rams in the season series last year, and there has to be some friendly competition between the seniors from both teams.
We’ll have to wait until Monday, when the two meet at Manning at 6 p.m.
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Speaking of English-Classical, the two volleyball teams meet for the first time this season tonight at English. I’m looking forward to seeing both squads, but after watching Classical play so much last season, I’m curious to see how the team shapes up after graduating such a big senior class.
Right now, it seems like the Rams fall somewhere in the middle of the pack in the NEC. There has to be a learning curve for the relatively inexperienced Classical team. Sure, players like Alytah Noum and Lizzie Troisi saw playing time last year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some growing pains as the more experienced players adjust to taking on different roles or learn to play alongside new players.
And, of course, they still have Soneta Srey, who is an extremely talented player. Emma Dejoie is a key piece, too. But I have a feeling the Classical team will hit its stride later in the season.
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At the Swampscott-Marblehead volleyball match yesterday, I was amazed by how many girls Swampscott has in its program. The Big Blue has nearly 50 kids, almost doubling the size of last year’s teams.
One of the standouts from Tuesday’s game was Cassidy Ryan, a setter who looks pretty experienced, but is only a freshman. Captains Taylor McBurney and Leanne Nisbet will have plenty of good young players to pass the torch to after this season.
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I bet Lynn Tech girls soccer coach Bruce Diver wishes he could clone Coral Gonzalez. The Tech senior is unbelievable between the pipes, but the Tigers saw her value out of the net last week. Gonzalez came out to play striker in the second half of Tech’s 2-0 win over PMA last Wednesday, and ended up scoring both of Tech’s goals. On the first, she brought the ball up the field by herself, and the second was assisted by Annmarie Teixeira.
Yesterday, she logged nine saves in a 0-0 tie.
Gonzalez looks like she’ll have a bright future if she decides to play soccer in college, but who knows what position that will be at.