Salem boys defeat Classical 1-0

LYNN – It was 80 minutes of missed shots and missed opportunities for both Classical and Salem at Manning Field on Tuesday. However, at the end, Salem won the matchup, 1-0.Click here for a photo gallery.Most of the shots by both teams sailed high or wide. What few shots managed to be on net were scooped up by the keepers, co-captain Danny McCarthy of Salem and co-captain Dammy Dada of Classical.Before the kickoff, Salem coach Michael Collins said, “Classical has quite a few players back and I hope we are ready for the start of the (Northeastern Conference) season.”Joe Skahan, the Classical coach, has several players suspended for two games for breaking team rules. They will be back tomorrow. Classical entered its opening game of the NEC schedule with an 0-2 record that it picked up in the Lynn City Tourney.For the first half hour, both teams had few scoring opportunities. Finally, in the 34th minute, Salem got a breakaway.Freshman Gabriel Polanco Rodriguez and co-captain Edwin Demoya broke in on Dada, and only Ram defender and co-captain Greg Rybak was back in the area. Demoya drew Dada to the right side of the goal, and Dada was out of the play when Demoya passed the ball to Rodriguez in the arc. All he had to do was beat Rybak, who was trying to cover the net. Rodriguez took one dribble and put the ball in the low left corner. The Witches broke on top 1-0. The half ended with no further scoring.Two minutes into the second half, Classical was called for a trip in the area. The referee pointed to the spot and Salem had a penalty shot. Demoya set the ball and then took the kick. However, it sailed five yards over the crossbar.The remainder of the game was a succession of missed shots, missed passes and kicks, and many fouls on both sides.Collins was happy to get out of Manning Field with a win, but was not pleased with his team’s performance.”We worked for the last three practices on finishing,” he said after the game. “Every day we practice the penalty shots. Tomorrow we are back to page one and we will be working very hard.””We have to finish,” Skahan said. “Maybe the players who were out could have helped, but we still had many chances to put the ball in the net.”He added, “Kevine Kakou and Greg Rybak carried us tonight on defense. They broke up so many Salem attacks. We almost couldn’t keep count. They were outstanding.” The Rams have a bye date this weekend. They are now 0-3 and will play Saugus next Tuesday.