LYNN — The Lynn English boys soccer team put it all together at the perfect time in a 3-1 win over Lynn rival Classical Tuesday night at Manning Field.
A lot of the Bulldogs’ success came from the return of their defensive leader and senior captain Robyn Barrios from injury. Barrios — along with Luis Aleman and the rest of the back line — was amazing for English, with Classical’s only goal coming in the final seconds when the game was already decided.
“Robyn was finally able to play (Tuesday) after five games,” English coach Kerry King said. “He does a huge job back there communication and organization-wise. That’s something we’ve been lacking.”
The offensive end was just as crisp, led by a goal and an assist from Ryan Lima. Lima’s assist was even more impressive than his goal, a spinning heel pass to Joshua Chez — who scored one goal along with Jalen Coriolan.
“We have a creative bunch of kids,” King said. “I think Ryan Lima is one of the better kids in the state and our midfielders are really good too. When we keep it simple, pass the ball and move it quickly we’re pretty dangerous.”
Classical’s lone goal came just seconds before the final whistle off the foot of Mortada Al-Shiblawi. But overall, the mistakes outweighed the scoring chances for the Rams.
“English was the better team,” Classical coach Eric Moreno Jr. said. “The boys for me didn’t show up. There were a couple goal kick errors which are just mental errors. We’re a little young and this moment was a little big for some of them. We have to continue to learn and keep grinding. I have to continue to build this program from the ground up.”
Before the game, the teams held a dual Senior Night — honoring 18 Lynn seniors for their contributions to their respective programs.
Classical goalkeeper Isaiah Diaz started the night with a nice diving save and from there both teams traded a few possessions before the tide started to shift in English’s favor.
Lima just missed on a scoring opportunity midway through the first half, but he kept up the pressure and found Chez on his heel pass to put English up 1-0.
A few minutes later, Coriolan brought pressure of his own after a goal kick and stole the ball before scoring on a nice kick to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0 before the half.
Classical was fortunate English didn’t pile on more goals in the second half. Lima and Chez each hit the crossbar on a pair of second-half chances.
Lima eventually scored later before Al-Shiblawi broke the shutout for Classical to cap off the scoring.
“This is the first game since the beginning of the season where we had our starting four back together (on defense),” King said. “Because of that, we could push a kid who had been playing defense back into the midfield. It changed our whole formation for the better.”
English (2-3-1) will wait and see its opponent in the upcoming Greater Boston League tournament Thursday (TBD).
Classical (1-6, 0-6 in GBL play) will also wait to see who they visit in the tournament Thursday (TBD).
“We’re going to give our best effort,” Moreno said. “Against Malden we had a quality game so I’m actually shocked about (Tuesday’s) performance. I can really put it down to just nerves. We have to get back where we were. We need a full camp and preseason. This for us is a preseason for next year and we have that in mind. In this league, you have to get that extra training in.”
