REVERE — The Revere boys soccer team continued its solid start to the season Thursday morning, coming from behind to defeat Greater Boston League foe Lynn Classical by a score of 3-1 at Harry Della Russo Stadium. The Patriots notched two goals in the late minutes of the first half to pull ahead, holding the lead the rest of the way before sealing things with a goal in the second half.
“We didn’t play our best game, but we got a positive result,” said Revere coach Manny Lopes. “Between the wind and the COVID restrictions, the game was a mess for both sides.”
Senior captain Diego Salcedo scored two goals for Revere in the win, while senior forward Andres Callejas scored on a penalty kick. Senior captain Michael Maldonado and senior midfielder Juan Perez each had one assist.
For Classical, sophomore forward Elzon Halimi scored the lone goal in the loss. The Rams have had a challenging start to the season, with a number of players missing due to injury and vacation during the opening week.
“I’m really proud of the effort and the fight that our guys have shown over the first few games of the season,” said Classical coach Eric Moreno Jr. “The way they’ve responded against teams like Lynn Tech, Revere and Chelsea while being shorthanded has been great to see.”
It was the Rams who struck first in this one, jumping out to a 1-0 lead on Halimi’s goal about midway through the first half.
Classical continued to play well after that, but Revere quickly turned the tables. The Patriots responded with two goals late in the first half, both from Salcedo, to take a 2-1 lead into the halftime break.
“The wind made it harder for Classical to get out of its defensive third,” said Lopes. “We know we can pressure the ball and we know we have the skill to bring about a result, and we were able to do it. But we’re still not finishing enough for the number of opportunities we are creating. I’m guessing we are somewhere around 20 to 25 percent on finishing our chances, so if we ever figure it out it may get interesting.”
“We made a couple of changes to the rotations during that period, and it just didn’t work,” said Moreno. “It’s tough when you’re missing a lot of guys and you don’t have a lot of depth to fall back on. We’re hoping we can get that cleared up when guys start coming back next week.”
Classical came back in the second half with some more pressure, but the Rams simply couldn’t find the back of the net the rest of the way. Late in the game, Revere was awarded with a penalty kick and cashed in when Callejas knocked one into the back of the net to seal the win.
Classical (1-3) hosts Everett Tuesday evening (5) at Manning Field.
“The results haven’t come yet, but we’re really moving in the right direction and I think we’re going to have a good run when we get back to full strength,” said Moreno. “We’ll come back next week and then we have four more games before the playoffs, so we’re going to try to make some noise over the final weeks of the season.”
Revere (2-1) hosts English Saturday morning (11) back at Della Russo Stadium.
“We had a tough learning experience against Somerville (last week), in the space of five minutes we lost a winnable game,” said Lopes. “Every time we play we learn. Classical is a well-coached, strong team — as is English. This is the GBL, there is no rest and every game is like a playoff game. We expect the English game to be a quality, competitive match against another well-coached team.”
