Girls soccer.htm

There is an air of anticipation and excitement down at Hood Park this year for the Lynn Classical girls soccer team. After struggling through a couple of down seasons, the future and present look very bright for the Rams.

The excitement starts at the top with new head coach Kerri Altieri.

Altieri is quite familiar with most of her players, having taught many of her charges at Classical. She comes to the program after spending time as the head coach at Lynn Tech since 2005 when the girls soccer program was founded there.

Gabbi Galeazzi during soccer practice today.

Kenze Copinger during soccer practice at Manning Field today.

Francesca Galeazzi during soccer practice at Manning Field today.

"I've had many of these girls in class so it's exciting," Altieri said. "Our numbers are up so it's so far, so good."

Altieri had 40 girls, including 11 freshmen, come out to the first day of practice this week giving Classical something it hasn't had in a long time: depth of talent.

"I think we have the same number of seniors as freshmen," Altieri said. "And that's great. It will let us have a lot of kids coming up to help build the program. That's what we want to do."

Leading the way for Classical this season will be its three captains: Gabby Galeazzi, Brianna Capone and Christine Francois. Galeazzi and Capone have become talented offensive players while Francois is one of the top defenders in the Northeastern Conference and was the team's top defensive player last season.

"They are great players and team leaders," Altieri said. "They have done a fantastic job in our captain's practices getting the girls ready. As a coach, I can't ask for anything more."

Mackenzie Coppinger, fresh off starring for the Classical softball team last spring, will be in goal this season while Altieri will also look to get solid contributions from Erin Walters, Allison Kurpiel and Jennie Erekson.

Perhaps the one part of her team Altieri is most excited about is the talented freshman class.

"We had 11 of them turn out," Altieri said of her ninth graders. "And I really think they will help us build a good team."

Frankie Galeazzi (younger sister of Gabby), Krista Cuozzo (younger sister of Katie Cuozzo) and Rebecca Potter are three of those freshmen to look out for this season.

Classical will play in a revamped NEC this season as they will not have powerhouses Peabody and Danvers, both of whom are ranked in the state's top 25 entering the season, on the schedule. The Rams will still have a pair of games with rival Lynn English along with being paired with Marblehead, Revere, Salem, Winthrop and Gloucester in their part of the league.

"I think that we will be competitive this year," Altieri said. "I am really looking forward to seeing how things shake out."

The Classical High girls soccer team has a new coach

Kerri Altieri, a math teacher at the high school and the head girls coach at Lynn Tech since 2005, will take over for Marcy Durgin, who stepped down because she was moving to Chicago after getting married last December.

Altieri said going for the Classical job was a difficult decision because she had been with Tech for five years and felt the program had come a long way. When she took the Tech job in 2005, it was the first year of the program.

"We came a long way. My heart was with that team. To switch was a big decision," she said.

Altieri said being able to teach and coach at the same school was a big factor in her decision. This is her second year teaching at Classical. Prior to that, she taught at Tech for five years.

"It's much more challenging to coach at a school when you're not part of the school," she said. "I started teaching at Classical last year and have sort of become part of the Classical community."

Altieri grew up in Salem and graduated from Bishop Fenwick in 1991. Prior to teaching, she had worked in finance and marketing. She's been teaching for seven years.

LYNN CLASSICAL GIRLS SOCCER 2009

Coach: Marcy Durgin Assistant Coach: Amy MacLachlan Trainer – Tom Clark

____________________________English Girls Finish up with Win over Classical 1-0

Classical soccer senior captain Kelly Deveney poses with her coaches, Marcy Durgin and Amy MacLachlan, Thursday. (ITEM PHOTO / REBA M. SALDANHA)

LYNN -- In a poignant evening, the Lynn English girls soccer team concluded its season with a 1-0 win over Classical at Manning Field on Thursday.

Before the game, Classical coach Marcy Durgin was honored by her players because she is leaving coaching to be married in December and move to Chicago.

"A Durgin has coached or taught every year since the mid- '50s," Durgin said. "This now comes to an end."

Durgin was the assistant coach for eight years and the head coach of the Rams for four years.

The lone player honored was the only senior on the Rams team, Kelly Deveney, who had moved with her family last spring to Arkansas because her father's company had made the move.

Deveney wanted to finish her high school career with the classmates with whom she grew up. She returned in September to live with her aunt and uncle and is finishing her high school career as a Ram. She is one of the captains of the soccer team and is also a captain of the Classical girls ice hockey team.

Her parents flew up from Arkansas to see her last game as the Classical sweeper. She will stay in Lynn until she graduates next June.

The first half was a combination of great goaltending by both keepers, Brittany Goulet from English and Mackenzie Coppinger from Classical. Both teams also have excellent sweepers who control the play in front of the net. Junior Shawna Henry from English is the textbook sweeper, covering everything from sideline to sideline, while Classical's Deveney stays more to the middle of the area.

During the first half, neither team had control of the midfield. As a result the ball kept moving from one end to the other. The half ended with no score. The second half had just started when English struck for the only goal of the game. Shannon Kidney carried the ball across midfield, and when she was in front of the English bench, she put a 35-yard through ball to the left wing, where Megan Forti picked up the pass behind the Ram right defender and went in alone on Coppinger, the Ram keeper.

As Coppinger came off the line to cut down the angle, Forti pulled the trigger on the shot and beat Coppinger to the top left corner of the net. It was only fitting that Forti scored the last and winning goal of her career at English. She sat out all of her junior year after knee surgery. She spent her entire junior year as scorekeeper and unofficial assistant coach to head coach Ed McNeil.

English senior keeper Goulet will be missed next year as she picked up her sixth shutout of the year and the 21st of her varsity career.

This was the final game of the season for both Classical and English.

English's Mackenzie Clark and Classical's Christine Francois vie for the ball at Manning Field Thursday. (ITEM PHOTO / REBA M. SALDANHA)

Peabody 7, Classical 1

At Peabody, Emily Manoogian had a goal and two assists as the Tanners remained undefeated (14-0-1). Manoogian, who has 37 points, hit the 100 career-point milestone in Peabody's last game against Beverly.

Manoogian had plenty of help from her friends on Tuesday. Hayley Dowd, who was named the Northeastern Conference North Most Valuable Player, scored, as did Victoria DiGiacomo, Katerina Rocha, Meghan Fay (first varsity goal), Amanda Nihan and Kirsten Nihan.

Junior Christine Francois scored on a free kick for Classical's goal. Mackenzie Coppinger played well in net and freshman Chelsey Martin was solid in the midfield. Classical plays English Thursday at 7 p.m. at Manning Field.

Revere 3, Classical 0

At Manning Field, Classical would wake up when it was too late. Revere had a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half and would never look back. Classical's Kelly Deveney had a strong game for the defense.

"It was a struggle in the first half," Classical coach Marcy Durgin said. "In the second half, we played much better, not giving up a goal."

Classical plays Everett Saturday.

Beverly 4, Classical 0

At Beverly Airport Field, the Panthers (6-7) came out flying in the first half with Monica Casola scoring three goals and Bridget Leahy the other to take a 4-0 lead at the break. Casola and Leahy each had one assist. Hayley Lorge picked up the shutout.

The Rams played a solid second half led by sweeper Kelly Deveney. Classical plays Revere today at Manning Field.

Salem 2, Classical 0

At Manning Field, Lauren Schaejbe scored on a penalty kick 13 minutes into the game and it turned out to be all the offense the Witches (5-5-3) would need. Jasmine Bryant added an insurance tally in the second half with Ashley Maccario picking up the assist. Emma Titus and Lindsay Trammell combined for the shutout.

Despite the loss, Classical coach Marcy Durgin was very happy with the way her team played.

"We played a great game tonight," Durgin said, citing strong play from freshman Chelsey Martin on defense, Gabby Galeazzi at halfback and Mackenzie Coppinger in net.

Gloucester 3, Classical 1

At Gloucester, an early deficit was too much for the Rams to overcome. Classical's Christine Francois scored the lone goal at the end of the first half. The score was 3-1 at the half, and would stay that way for the rest of the game. Playing well for Classical were Brianna Capone, Christine Francois, and Kelly Deveney. Classical plays Salem Monday.

Winthrop 2, Classical 0

At Manning Field, Nicole Black scored with about five seconds left in the first half with the assist going to Haley Benson. The Vikings (3-8) added some insurance about 15 minutes into the second half on a Benson goal (Black assist). Johnna Fisher was in net for Winthrop. The Vikings had 17 first-half shots.

Keeper Mackenzie Coppinger and midfielder Brianna Capone played well for the Rams.

Danvers 5, Classical 0

At Manning Field, Brittany Russo and Corey Persson had two goals each and Joanna Zecha had one for the Falcons, who remain undefeated at 8-0-1. Classical is 1-10.

Swampscott Wins over Classical

At Swampscott, Tess Gorman and Merry Ball had two goals each and freshman Erin Cassidy had four assists for the Big Blue (5-1-1). Classical coach Marcy Durgin said her team (1-9) will put this game behind it and look ahead to the rest of the season.

The St. Mary's girls get a "fourpeat" as they defeated Lynn Classical, 3-0, Saturday at Manning Field.

Kate Abbott, right, of St. Mary's kicks the ball down the field as Erin Walters (36) of Classical watches on Saturday at Manning Field. (ITEM PHOTO / OWEN O'ROURKE)

The Lynn City Soccer Tournament has been going for four years, and only one school has captured the girls crown every year. This year was no exception.

"We have to rebuild from the goal out," St. Mary's girls coach Jim Foley said before the game. "We lost most of our defenders plus our all-everything, Amanda Webster."

"We have only one senior," Rams coach Marcy Durgin said. "The team has 11 sophomores who were battle-tested last year as freshmen. I feel that this experience will help us as we go into the (Northeastern Conference) schedule."

St Mary's scored three goals in the first 20 minutes. At the 5-minute mark, senior midfielder Courtney Winters opened the scoring with a shot past Classical keeper Mackenzie Coppinger. The assist went to senior striker Michelle Macchione, who passed the ball through two defenders to find Winters unmarked in front of the net.

One minute later, Macchione had the honors and she received a great through ball from Brianna Anderson and scored against Coppinger to the short side. All the scoring was wrapped up in the 19th minute, when Rachel Stueve picked up an errant clearing pass off a defender and scored against Coppinger to the low far side.

Many individual battles sometimes determine how a game goes. Classical sophomore Jennie Erekson, who does a lot of the distributing and a fair share of the scoring, was covered by St. Mary's defender Mikaela Donovan. The other Classical attackers were unable to get the ball to Erekson, and that shut down a major part of the Rams offense. The rest of the game was one of both teams substituting freely in order to give their younger players experience for the upcoming season.

"We played a good game for the last 60 minutes," Durgin said. "The first 20 killed us." She added, "Co-captain Christine Francois played well at defender and co-captain Brianna Capone played well in midfield. We have a few days to get ready for our first league game when we play Salem."

"We did some nice things out there," Foley said. "We are coming together and should be ready for our league season."

The Lynn Classical girls soccer squads struggled last season, but coach Marcy Durgin is hopeful for the 2009 campaign.
The team started practice on Thursday, sand the school will begin the regular season on Sept. 9 in the Lynn City Tournament. Classical plays Tech.

Classical is counting on underclass talent.

Classical coach Marcy Durgin has been part of the Rams program for the past 12 years, eight as an assistant and four as head coach. This season, however, she has seen something unprecedented in her tenure: Her team has only one senior, sweeper and captain Kelly Deveney.

"I've been coaching at Classical for (12) years," Durgin said. "It's never happened. The last two years, I graduated nine seniors each year."

Twelve players, all with varsity experience, return for 2009. The team boasts a deep sophomore class with eight second-year players.

"We had a large freshman class last year," Durgin noted.

There are also three juniors, all assistant captains: midfielder Gabby Galeazzi, defenseman Christine Francois, and Brianna Capone, who the coach said would probably run the middle of the field.

"I'm really looking to the four captains to show some great leadership on the field," Durgin said.

As for the sophomores, they include goalie Mackenzie Coppinger, Jasmine Badr, a defenseman; Katie Cuozzo, who plays defense and midfield; forward Allison Kurpiel; sisters Erin and Kelly Walters, who play offense and defense, respectively; midfielder Stephanie Lopez; and forward Jennie Erekson.

"All eight saw great playing time as freshmen," Durgin said. "They go into the preseason with a lot of experience in their back pocket."

In all, 22 players, including six freshmen, attended the first day of practice at Hood Park, across from the school. The preseason will include a scrimmage against Amesbury. Then comes opening day with the Lynn City Tournament.

"Going into the season, I am extremely pleased with the experience we start with," Durgin said. "I am optimistic that we'll put a few more in the win column.

"We have a lot of speed, and very quick girls, a lot of girls who know the game, who just understand the game."

However, she added, "I definitely lost a few defenders. I'm hoping to fill in these sophomores with four starting positions."

Players from last year who graduated in the spring included three starting captains, Danielle Jesoraldo, Katie Fitzgerald, and Nikki Kourembanos (who is trying out for the Salem State team), plus fellow starter Jillian Adams and a classmate who Durgin called "the surprise of the season," Sochitta Men, "who came out for goalie her senior year and was a huge, huge surprise for me. She never played soccer before; you'd have thought she trained as a goalie her whole life."

And yet the coach is able to make the best of playing with only one senior this year.

"It's good for this year and the future," she said.

LYNN CLASSICAL GIRLS SOCCER 2009