LYNN — Masconomet forward Josh Rubin came to play in Tuesday’s 24th Agganis All-Star boys soccer game. Rubin, with his coach and three teammates by his side, made the most of the final game of his high school career with a two-goal performance in lifting the North all-stars to a hard-fought 2-1 win over the South at Manning Field.
Rubin, who took home North MVP honors, gave his team a 1-0 lead toward the end of the first half. He added a much-needed insurance goal, which turned out to be the difference, in the second half.
“It was great to see it one last time,” Masconomet coach Jared Scarpaci, who guided the North all-stars Tuesday, said. “Josh scored 30-plus goals this season. To score two more was nice, seeing him do that.”
English’s Julio Cora was the South’s MVP. Cora scored the South’s lone goal in the closing minutes of the game.
“It was unbelievable,” Scarpaci said of the level of local talent on the field. “I thought it was a great game, as reflected in the score. It was a really good game and great soccer.
“(Agganis Games Director) Paul Halloran does a great job and if he ever needs help, I’m around and I’m always here for him. There were four Masconomet kids on the (North) team (Rubin, Matthew Dwzil, Devin Ralph and Aedan Salvador), so it was good to coach those kids. I know a lot of the other kids. It was a lot of fun.”
Neither team’s offense could gain much rhythm through the early stages of the first half. The South all-stars took a corner kick to no avail midway through the period. The North all-stars had their share of chances to break the scoreless tie with a few free kicks through the period but they couldn’t push one through. With 5:17 to go until halftime, the North finally broke the scoreless tie. Rubin found the back of the net for the 1-0 North lead and that’s how it stayed at the midway break.
The South’s offense livened up in the second half but it didn’t amount to much. A corner kick seven minutes into the period came up short. South’s Cora sent a header toward North goalie Christian Buckley but the St. John’s netminder made the save. Kyle White’s (Danvers) shot 13 minutes into the period sailed high over the crossbar. Mix in a pair of point-blank saves from Buckley through the next few minutes and the South just couldn’t get one in. Rubin added a clutch insurance goal midway through the half, stretching the North’s lead to 2-0.
As it turned out, the North all-stars needed it.
Showing no quit, Cora picked up a nifty pass from Olu George (St. Mary’s) and fired it in to close the gap to 2-1 with 2:15 remaining. But it was too little, too late as the North ran out the clock for the win.
“Credit to the South, they definitely kept it interesting,” Scarpaci said. “It was a fun game.”
