Boys Soccer: Three Lynn teams make the cut

The road to the state tournament certainly is filled with its share of bumps along the way. But for several local boys teams, the quest for the hardware begins in earnest on Saturday and Sunday.Click here for a photo gallery.By far, the greatest light for local teams will be on Division 2 North, where three of the top four seeds (Danvers, Salem, Tech) are North Shore teams and five earned spots in all, led by the No. 1 Falcons.Tech, led by coach Fred Gallo, turned in a 10-2-4 record in the regular season and will play today (3) in the Vocational School championship against Bristol-Plymouth before opening D2 North play on Monday (5) at Manning Field against Wayland or Greater Lowell.”It’s been a good year,” Gallo said. “The team has played very well this year. We’ve had some bumps, but you need those.”First-year coach Rob Upton guided Classical to the NEC South title and a sterling 10-3-4 record. The Rams, seeded eighth in Division 2 North, will take on No. 9 Pentucket on Saturday (6:30) at Manning Field.”We had a good season and we’re looking forward to the challenge going into the state tournament,” Upton said. “Pentucket is tough and we know that they’re going to give us all that we can handle.”The Rams could very well see NEC rival Danvers in the quarterfinals. The Falcons and coach Mike Chase will take on either Bedford or another NEC team, Swampscott, in the first round on Monday.In D3 North, No. 3 St. Mary’s is back looking to repeat its run to the finals of last year. But to get there, the Spartans will have to go through the likes of Lynnfield, who dealt the Prep one of its two regular season losses, and Rockport, to name a couple.St. Mary’s has been one of the top teams in the area, going 13-5 and earning a home game with North Reading on Saturday (4:30).”(We’re) very pleased to get the No. 3 seed,” Spartans coach Mike D’Agostino said. “We played very hard to get the spot we deserved. These 13 wins weren’t easy.”In Division 1 North, St. John’s Prep earned the No. 3 seed and looks to make a deep run after being unceremoniously bounced in the first round last year.For St. John’s, the memory of last year’s stunning loss to Acton-Boxboro served as motivation for a dominant regular season that saw the Eagles surrender seven goals in 18 games.”We are hoping that our negative experience helps us,” Prep coach Dave Crowell said. “Our focus will be on who we are playing, not looking ahead to what’s down the road.”The Eagles will open with either Lexington or A-B on Monday (2:30) in Danvers.Lynnfield, meanwhile, put together one of the best regular seasons in school history, which included the win over the Prep and dealing Division 3 North top seed Georgetown its only loss.Coach Brent Munroe’s team begins its tournament on Sunday (12:30) at home when the Pioneers take on either Newburyport or Winthrop.”We kind of expected to be good and as it turned out we were as good as we could be,” Munroe said of his team’s 15-3 regular season. “It’s been a great year and I like where we’re sitting right now.”If the Pioneers were to reach the semifinals, they could have a date with No. 3 St. Mary’s. The Spartans were a Cinderella story a year ago, making the finals as a No. 16 seed.Salem earned the No. 3 spot in Division 2 North and gets a home game against either O’Bryant or Melrose on Monday (7) at Bertram Field.Back in Division 1 North, No. 9 Peabody (13-5) heads to No. 8 Lowell on Sunday (2) while No. 22 Revere (7-7-4) is at No. 11 East Boston.In Division 3 North, No. 12 Bishop Fenwick could very well be a sleeper as the Crusaders (9-7-2) open against No. 5 Boston International on Saturday (2:30).