Boys Soccer Roundup: Castro’s four goals help Classical tie Gloucester

Miguel Castro wasn’t able to top the numbers he put up against Winthrop earlier in the week (5 goals and 2 assists), but he came darn close, scoring all four goals for Classical Thursday in a 4-4 tie against Gloucester at Manning Field.Although a little disappointed to see the win slip away in the final two minutes, Classical coach Joe Skahan was very happy with the way his team played against one of the tougher teams in the Northeastern Conference.”We haven’t beaten or even tied Gloucester in years,” Skahan said.Things didn’t start out well for the Rams, who trailed 3-1 at the half. Gloucester would have been wise to consider Castro’s first goal a warning shot and take cover. The sophomore buried a free kick from 35 yards out in the top right corner.”Everyone’s jaw hit the ground on that one,” Skahan said.Classical (4-3-4, 2-3-4 Northeastern Conference) hasn’t had much success against Gloucester in recent years, but the Fishermen were in for a surprise this time around.”I think they came in thinking, ‘We beat this team every year,’ but we worked our butts off. They were extremely frustrated by their play. They broke down, made mistakes, and we capitalized on them,” Skahan said.Castro, who has 26 goals and nine assists so far this year, put the Rams back in the game with two quick goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Castro scored the go-ahead goal midway through the half and hung on until Gloucester beat Classical keeper Marc Moise with under two minutes remaining.”He played unreal,” Skahan said about Moise, adding that he made several diving saves and did a great job clearing the ball out on corner kicks and throw-ins.English 2, Winthrop 0At Manning Field, the Bulldogs (2-6-2) dominated play and the hard work paid off when Ulises Guevara and Jesus Maldonado scored (Mubarak Nyang had two assists).Eric Hamlin picked up the shutout. The Bulldogs are at Gloucester Tuesday.Peabody 1, Saugus 0At Peabody, the Tanners (8-1-1) got a huge scare from the pesky Sachems as Dominic Mondi’s goal in the 17th minute of the first half, assisted by Carlos DeOliveira, was all the offense Peabody needed.”It was a very physical game,” Peabody coach Stan McKeen said.Justin Famiglietti and Brian Fleming combined to make 11 saves and get the shutout.”We had some great chances, but the bottom line is that we got the win,” McKeen said.The Sachems (3-5-1) got an outstanding game in goal from Joey Meuse, who shut down one of the top offenses in the league.”They are a really good team and we hung right in there with them,” Saugus coach Chris Coviello said. “We had our chances at the end but it didn’t work out.”Matt Guarente, Corey Rutledge and Nick Samson played well on defense for Saugus.Revere 3, Swampscott 2At Revere, it was a 0-0 game at the half before the Patriots (5-4-1) took advantage of a couple of Swampscott (4-4-1) mistakes to get the win.Ashley Barrios scored twice for Revere, including the game-winner on a free kick late in regulation. Matt Cena had the other Revere goal midway through the second half.Kyle Taylor gave Swampscott a 1-0 lead early in the second half and John Beaulieu made it 2-1, Big Blue, midway through the second before Revere came back.Marblehead 2, Beverly 0At Beverly, Tucker Cohen scored an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute and Alex Terrill added an insurance goal, assisted by Sam Terrill, with just over four minutes left to get a big road win. Kurt Grossman picked up the shutout in goal.Salem 3, Danvers 1At Bertram Field, Steve Bifsha scored two goals and Nuur Mahamed accounted for the other as the Witches (8-2-1, 8-1-1 Northeastern Conference) kept pace with Peabody in the hunt for the NEC North title. Alejandro Alvarez, Mike Steeves and Max Mondstein all had assists. Mike Collins was in net for the win.