Danvers boys soccer defeats Classical, 4-2

LYNN – At Hood Park, across the street from Classical, in a game that was marked by intense physical play, the Danvers boys soccer team knocked off Classical, 4-2.For a photo gallery of this game, please click here.The Falcons, coached by Antonio Lage, brought a 4-3-2 record into the game. As a third-year coach at Danvers, Lage was aware of the skills of the Classical players. He said, “We have to slow down (Rafael) Rosa, (Carlos) Cifuentes and (Miguel) Castro. If we can get them out of their game, then we have a chance to win the game.”Joe Skahan, the second-year Classical coach, had his 6-2-2 Rams ready to play.”Our guys are really coming together,” Skahan said. “Rafael, Miguel and Carlos have really led the team up front.”The game started with Classical controlling the ball with its usual short-pass game. Danvers, however, turned it into a very physical game. As the first half moved towards the twenty-minute mark, Danvers started to take control of midfield and was shutting down the Classical passing game. In the 25th minute, Falcon midfielder Chris Ciampa put a perfect through ball from 35 yards out to Wesley Moreira, who picked up the pass in the arc and one-timed a low shot to the right corner that just beat Classical keeper Jeremy Dorson. This made the score Danvers 1, Classical 0.In the 33rd minute, a mistake by a Classical defender gave Danvers its second goal. The defender, in attempting to clear a bouncing ball, missed the kick, and Moreira blasted the ball from the 12-yard line and beat the keeper, who had no chance on the shot. At this point in the game, both teams reverted to the long ball down the wing, hoping for the perfect cross and score. Both keepers came up big, as each of them, Dorson of Classical and Andrew Mikulski of Danvers, stopped a half-dozen shots each.In the 39th minute, with less than one minute to play in the half, Moreira had the ball on the left wing, and his shot was deflected by the Classical keeper. The ball bounced to Tom Hurley, who had the whole net from 6 yards out. He made no mistake, and the score went up to 3-0 in favor of Danvers. The half ended a few seconds later.All the scoring in the second half was compressed into the first seventeen minutes. At the 44th minute, Classical got on the scoreboard. Rosa stole the clearing pass deep in the Falcon defensive end and put a rocket into the corner that cut the score to Danvers 3, Classical 1. In the 51st minute, a Classical defender fouled a Danvers wing at the end line at the edge of the penalty area. Ciampa took the free kick and found Hurley unmarked in front of Dorson, and he notched his second goal of the game. That was also Ciampa’s second assist of the game. That made the score Danvers 4, Classical 1.Classical finished the scoring in the game when, in the 57th minute, Castro carried the ball down the right wing and found Juan DeLeon alone just outside the area. When the Danvers defender challenged him, he beat the defender, and then beat the keeper to the far corner. This made the score Danvers 4,Classical 2. The remaining 23 minutes of the game were very physical. Four times, the game was stopped so that the trainer could aid an injured player. In this period, two yellow cards were issued.After the game, Skahan was upset with the rough play on the part of the Falcons.”I don’t think we got the calls that we should have,” he said. “They took us out of our game. We will be ready for Marblehead next week.”Classical, which is at Marblehead next Tuesday, drops to 6-3-2, while Danvers moves up to 5-3-2.