Improving Tech knocks off Northeast Regional, 2-0

In basketball, if you want to shut down a team’s top gun, you could use a box and 1. Northeast Regional used the soccer version to shut down Tech’s leading scorer, Richard Jones-Alas. Nevertheless, Tech defeated Northeast, 2-0, at Manning Field on Wednesday.Click here for a photo gallery from the Lynn Tech versus Northeast soccer game.Knights coach Steve Rock had his senior captain and best defender, Juan Jaramillo, follow Jones-Alas all over the field. In the first half, this tactic disrupted Tech’s flow of the game, which is to get the ball to Jones-Alas, who has a shot that can beat any keeper from 20-25 yards out.Both teams are about equal in ability. Northeast has a record of 2-1 while Lynn Tech stands at 2-4-1.(2-2-1 league;Tech’s extra games are from the pre- season Lynn City Tourney.)The first half was played mostly at midfield. The four deep defenders from Tech, Oscar Garcia, Elmer Vicente, Reginald Teah and Cristian Paxtor, did an outstanding job in shutting down Brian Alvarez, Northeast’s top scorer, as well as its other striker, Douglas Silveira. Neither keeper, Camilo Florez from Northeast or Kevin DeLeon from Tech, had much business during the first half. Both defenses controlled the other team’s offense.During halftime, Tech coach Fred Gallo made some subtle changes that eventually gave Tech the win. He pulled Jones-Alas back to a midfield position and drew his “shadow,” Jaramillo, with him. That left a big hole in the middle of the Knights’ defense.It only took four minutes into the second half for Gallo’s ploy to work. In the forty-fourth minute, Jones-Alas had the ball in the midfield circle and hit Yerlin Guevara with a through ball near the top corner of the area. Guevara moved to his right and blasted a low shot to the right corner that went in under the diving keeper, who reacted too late on the shot, and it was in the net. Tech now led 1-0.Northeast then went on the attack. DeLeon had to make at least a half-dozen saves. As the game approached the seventieth minute, Tech was still clinging to the 1-0 lead.Jones-Alas hit wing Pedro Blas with a pass down the left wing. Blas carried the ball towards the arc, then reversed direction and hit a left-footed shot that was curving away from the keeper, and the ball found the corner of the net. With ten minutes to go, Tech had increased its lead to 2-0. This goal seemed to take the wind out of the Knights’ sails, and they offered little resistance for the last 10 minutes of the game.After the game, Gallo was reluctant to take any credit for the change in tactics by the Tigers. He praised the work ethic of the entire team and said, “We are improving every day. Our passing is getting better and our defenders are improving each game.”He also said, “Northeast has qualified for the states three years in a row, and they have most of the players back from last year. This was a good win for us.”Tech is off until next Tuesday.