Tech boys soccer earns victory over Shawsheen

LYNN – Despite playing shorthanded for the overwhelming majority of Wednesday afternoon?s match with Shawsheen Tech, the host Lynn Tech boys soccer team scored twice in each half on the way to a thorough 4-1 victory at Manning Field.?We had to make some changes today, and move people around because we were down men,” said Tigers head coach Fred Gallo. “The kids came ready to play and we got contributions all over the field; it was great to see.”With only 13 players at their disposal, the Tigers (2-3-0) lost a player just over two minutes into the game when Carlos Perez suffered a head injury while contesting for a ball in the air. Perez would be forced to sit for the remainder of the contest.Shawsheen (2-3-1) controlled the play early on but Tech keeper Tyler Beliveau stopped the visitors? best chance at the 30:30 mark, a header from traffic in front. The Tigers finally pushed the play into the Shawsheen end in the 12th minute and were rewarded shortly after.At 27:42, Rams keeper Brett Battaglia made a fantastic save while diving to his left to turn aside a free kick from Lennarth Torrez, who had a heavy impact all day long.Torrez would get his revenge just 17 seconds after the robbery, as his ensuing corner kick?s momentum actually carried Battaglia over the goal line after being caught. Torrez would again play a pivotal factor on the Tigers? second tally.In the 35th minute, Tech advanced the ball to midfield, where it found Aaron Rodriguez, who made a no-look, back-heel pass to Torrez, who in turn sent a long pass to open space. Josue Amaya turned on his burners to beat Battaglia to the ball before tapping it into the open net.The Tech speed factor was evident all game long despite the Tigers? lack of substitutes, and played a role in the Tigers? second-half outburst. After 20 minutes of Shawsheen pressure, the hosts again took control with back-to-back tallies.The first came at the 29:33 mark as Pa Sowe drove home a beautiful cross-pass from Amaya, who tracked down the ball down the left sideline. Under nine minutes later at 20:53, Amaya tacked on his second of the afternoon, beating Battaglia to the ball in no-man?s land before depositing it into the wide-open net.?The speed of our forwards is the key to our offense and it played a part in three of our goals today,” explained Gallo. “We didn?t have many subs today, so we were tired, but we still managed to go out and do what we had to do.”While the offense was plentiful, it was the defense that the Tigers coaching staff was most happy with. Shawsheen mustered eight shots on goal, the majority being harmless attempts from the outside.The Rams? lone score came at 18:11, when T.J. Barnss drove home a shot to the bottom left corner after a pass to the middle from Kyle Fleury.?We were really happy with the effort from the back end today, as well as Tyler, who played great in net,” said Gallo. “This was a complete team effort against a very competitive team. It all came together today for us.”