Agganis South wins men’s soccer classic

LYNN – Behind a dominant first-half performance, the South men’s soccer team defeated the North team, 2-1, in the 14th Annual Agganis All-Star Men’s Soccer Classic.Click here for an Agganis photo gallery.In the first half, the South controlled the middle of the field and was able to capitalize on momentum built up by big defensive plays. In particular, after South goalie Jeremy Dorson of Classical was able to rush out and make a desperation save – where a diving play took away a shot from North player and English star Mubarak Nyang – he was able to kick-start play down in the other direction. Moments later, receiving passes up the far side of the field, Dominic Mondi of Peabody was able to score on a left-footed strike. The goal came at 28:09 and gave the South a 1-0 lead.”It was a back and forth game at first, but we were able to have a strong first half,” said South coach Mike D’Agostino, the new St. Mary’s boys soccer coach. “(Mondi) made a great shot for the first goal.”Less than ten minutes later, Malden Catholic’s Joe Walsh collected a loose ball at midfield and brought it down to the endline outside of the box. Walsh was able to connect with his streaking teammate John Mack from Melrose with a quick pass to the front of the net. Mack got off the shot with his back heel to slip the ball into the net for a sleek goal, giving the South a 2-0 advantage.Heading into the break, the South had tallied five shots, including a ringing post shot by Brian Connery of Masconomet from roughly 22 yards out as time expired.”We came out a little flat,” said North coach Al Jackson, who has retired as the St. Mary’s boys soccer coach. “They dominated play in the middle and we had a hard time keeping up.”In the second half, the North came out with a stronger sense of purpose and played a more up-tempo game. Out of the gate, the North was able to control the middle of the field better with solid play from English forward Alex Alvarez.The North was able to score on an interesting play roughly seven minutes into the half. Thayer Adsit of Newburyport had a throw-in from the far sidelines that was aimed perfectly toward the front of the net. The net result of six players plus a goalie leaping at the throw-in was the ball trickling out to the top of the box, where North player Jon Britton of Hamilton-Wenham was able to drill home the score and make it 2-1, still in favor of the South. Despite an occasionally frantic pace to the game, the North was unable to come up with a game-tying score. After 80 minutes of play, the horn sounded and the South was able to claim its sixth Agganis win in the last seven years.For the North’s coach, Jackson, the game marked the last time he would be coaching from the sidelines. Jackson recently retired as the head coach of the boys soccer team at St. Mary’s, where at one point he coached the South’s coach, D’Agostino. D’Agostino will be taking over for Jackson in the fall as the boys coach.”I coached (D’Agostino) many years ago when he was a player. I had a lot of input in him taking over for me at St. Mary’s and it is nice to know he will be there to coach. I think he will be able to take the team to the next level,” said Jackson.The Agganis All-Star Classic is presented annually by the Agganis Foundation. Each year, the Agganis Foundation also awards scholarships to student-athletes. This year’s men’s soccer game featured two scholarship winners, St. Mary’s Mike Maghsoudi for the North and Jeremy Dorson of Classical for the South. The game was refereed by volunteers Jose Isidro and Phil Ronan.