English, Classical boys tie 1-1

LYNN – When the game ended, both coaches, Joe Skahan of Classical and Kerry King of English, both agreed that it was a game of goalkeepers. Without the exceptional play of the two keepers, Jeremy Dorson of the Rams and Daniel Cordoba of the Bulldogs, the goal total might have gone to double figures. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.Click here to see a photo gallery from the game.You would need an adding machine to total up the number of saves by each keeper.Besides the keeper play, the field players put on a passing and dribbling show that had the crowd cheering for almost the entire game. Both teams received excellent defensive play from their deep defenders; for English, Huber Robles, Ashani Nelson, Eric Bransfield and sweeper Alex Alvarez; and for Classical, Jeffrey Chavez, David Lopez, Greg Rybak and sweeper Danny Henriquez.The first half was one of the best performances of the year, as offensive passing and outstanding tackling by the defenders resulted in a 0-0 halftime score.All the action took place in the second half.In the 50th minute, Classical was fouled in the deep left corner near the flag. Miguel Castro, the NEC’s leading scorer, lined up the forty-yard kick and put it in the far top right corner of the net to give Classical a 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, at the 60th minute, Classical was awarded a penalty kick for a trip in the area. Castro lined up the shot from the 12-yard spot and blasted a low bullet to the low right corner. English keeper Daniel Cordoba guessed correctly on the shot, dove, and tipped the shot wide of the post. This save fired up the Bulldogs and they pressed the Classical defenders trying to tie the game. With less than 30 seconds to go, English’s all-league striker, Mubarak Nyang, blocked a Classical clearing pass that rolled back towards the Ram keeper. Nyang split the two defenders, took a couple of dribbles and beat Ram keeper Jeremy Dorson to the low right corner.This tied the game at 1-1. The referee announced that there were four seconds left on the clock. The game ended and both teams now get ready for the tourney pairings the middle of next week and the start of the playoffs on Nov. 7.King was on top of the world. He said, “We have a week before we play again and tonight is something to build on.”Skahan essentially echoed King’s words. He said, “We are ready to go. We have a lot of seniors that should help us in the playoffs.”