MIAA Boys Soccer: Classical, Tech among local squads in action

It will be a busy day in Lynn for high school soccer on Saturday. Manning Field will host a doubleheader featuring two of Lynn’s teams in the preliminary round of the MIAA’s Division 2 tournament.”I think that it is fantastic for Lynn soccer,” Tech coach Fred Gallo said. “Playing back-to-back will be amazing. It should be an exciting day of soccer.”In the first game, 12th-seeded Classical (10-5-4) will play 21st-seeded Malden Catholic (8-8-2) for the right to play Chris Champa and NEC Large champion Danvers (13-2-3) on Monday.Classical’s Miguel Castro, the NEC Large MVP, leads the Rams into action. He reached the 100-point milestone earlier this season. His brother, Salvador, has also impressed for Classical.”(Castro) is a dominant player,” Danvers coach Antonio Lage said. “We know what he brings to the table. It would be a matchup of the top two players (Castro and Champa). On both sides there will be skillful players.””If we play Classical, it will be a good, old-fashioned Northeastern Conference game,” said Lage. “When we played them earlier this season, they didn’t have some key players, so I’m sure the game will be much closer.”In the second game, seniors Richard Jones-Alas, Pedro Blas and Orlin Escalante lead Tech (9-3-3), which drew the 11th seed, into battle against 22nd-seeded Tewskbury (7-11-0) for the right to play Reading on Monday.”I don’t know much about Tewskbury,” said Gallo. “What I do know is that they are in the Merrimack Valley. So you have to forget what their record says because that is a very tough conference.For the third time in five years, Marblehead drew Concord-Carlisle in the first round. Ninth-ranked Marblehead (11-3-4) drew eighth-seeded Concord-Carlisle (11-3-3) in the first round. Marblehead will play at Concord-Carlisle at 4 p.m. on Monday.No. 17 Salem was the final squad from the North Shore to make the Division 2 tournament. The Witches will play 16th-ranked Bedford on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the right to play top-ranked Burke.DIVISION 3Craig Martin and Peter Franchi have led Lynnfield’s outstanding defensive unit all season. The fifth-seeded Pioneers (12-5-2) will face off against 12th-ranked Whittier on Sunday at 1 p.m. at home.”Our league is really deep and good,” Lynnfield coach Brent Munroe said. “It’s one of the strongest conferences in the state. That gives us a nice advantage. I’m not sure that we’ll play a team that is better than we already have faced all season.”Sixth-seeded Fenwick (12-5-2) drew conference rival Trinity Catholic (7-8-1), the 11th seed ? although, since Trinity Catholic plays in the CCL Small, the teams did not play each other this year.”It really comes down to what team shows up that day,” Crusaders coach Andrew Bub said. “There is a lot at stake, but we are ready to go out and do battle.”Winthrop made it in as the 14th seed with a 4-14 record. The Vikings will face off against No. 3 Maimonides on Sunday at 6 p.m. at MIT.DIVISION 1Peabody’s 12-2-4 season was rewarded with a seventh seed and a first-round matchup against 10th-seeded Cambridge R&L (11-4-3). The two teams will do battle at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Peabody.St. John’s, the 18th seed (9-7-2), will play 15th-seeded Everett (9-5-1) in the preliminary round on Saturday at Everett. The winner earns the right to play second-ranked Lexington (15-0-3).