Classical boys soccer dominates English

LYNN – If ever there was a time to be playing your best soccer of the season, going into the state tournament would be when most coaches would like to have it happen. For Classical coach Rob Upton, that’s just what he’s getting out of his Rams.View Photo GalleryOn a cold and rainy Thursday at Manning Field, the Rams completed a season sweep of crosstown rival English with a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Karegeya Nasibu, Abitalib Girdia and Tyler Way.”The guys showed a lot of fight in some really tough conditions,” Upton said. “It’s nice to be on a little run as we head towards the tournament.”The Rams (10-6-1) have won three of their last four games, the blemish (if you can call it that) being a 1-1 tie against NEC North power Beverly.Mother Nature played a big factor on Thursday as a wind that gusted as high as 35 MPH made life difficult at times for both teams. The Rams had the wind in their favor for the first half and they used it to control the play against a pesky English team.”The conditions certainly were difficult,” Bulldogs coach Kerry King said. “And then we had trouble controlling (Girdia) and (Nasibu). They dominated.”Despite having a lopsided margin of possession in the opening half, the Rams were unable to do anything with the wind at their backs for over 39 minutes. The only good chance came off the foot of Nasibu midway through the half but his shot sailed over Kyle Arsenault’s net.It looked like the Bulldogs were going to get what they wanted out of the opening 40 minutes until a miniscule mistake inside the final :30 of the half proved to be the game’s turning point.Off a Paul Strileckis corner, Nasibu was able to shake his defender and fire a shot from point blank range past Arsenault to send Classical sprinting to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.”We were very happy to be up 1-0 heading to the half,” Upton said. “Knowing how the weather was, we wanted to have the wind first and we were able to capitalize on it.”The Bulldogs would have the wind in their favor for the second half but they had to try and get through a very stingy Classical defense.The Rams turned up the pressure in front of Strati Saranteas’ goal and he would need to make only one save in the second half as Classical eventually would turn the tide and put the game out of reach.Girdia gave Classical some breathing room with 23:00 left when he knuckleballed a shot past Arsenault for a 2-0 lead. Eight minutes later, Way got to a loose ball in the box and put a shot inside the right post to make it 3-0 and cap the scoring.”This is English against Classical. Everybody is out there competing and we feel fortunate to come away with the two points,” Upton said.