LYNN — Wednesday night’s soccer action at Manning Field concluded with Lynn Tech defeating Classical in a cross-city matchup.
It was a family reunion of sorts as Lynn Tech’s head coach Eric Moreno was going up against his son, Eric Moreno Jr., who is the head coach of Lynn Classical. Playing under the lights, it seemed like a perfect occasion for these two teams to face off.
Father would defeat son as Tech defeated Classical 3-0.
The scoring started early with Lynn Tech scoring the first goal of the match less than three minutes into the first half. Sophomore Gregiore Amissi was able to head a bouncing ball into the net and give the Tigers the momentum early on. The scoring continued in the fifth minute when the Tigers struck again with junior Erikson Licardie sneaking behind Classical’s defense and extending the lead to two.
Moreno Jr. complimented Lynn Tech on being ready for the match after the loss. For the Classical coach, a poor start didn’t make things easy for his squad.
“They put us under pressure in the first 20 minutes and it was too much to overcome,” said Moreno Jr. “We really didn’t respond well. Obviously because we picked up a couple yellow cards there and on the night Tech was the better team.”
After a couple of weeks of practicing and scrimmages, Moreno said that scrimmages against Everett in particular helped the team prepare for the start of the season especially with a young squad.
“We have a young mindset of kids,” said the Lynn Tech coach. “We got eighth graders, ninth graders, 10th graders, some seniors and some juniors. We have a great squad this year.”
For the majority of the first half, Lynn Classical was under pressure in its own third. Midway through the first 45 minutes, goalkeeper Isaiah Diaz made a flurry of saves to keep the deficit at two.
Lynn Tech piled on when junior Jason Robles scored an outstanding free kick 30 yards from goal.
In the 21st minute, junior Yahir Viveros received a yellow card after pushing his opponent to the ground. This was not the only time that the referee had to speak to players on both teams as Wednesday’s match was quite physical and featured a lot of fouls. Viveros went on to receive a red card after getting his second yellow card early in the second half, which left Classical down a man.
The Rams got a dangerous opportunity in the final third late in the first half but the shot was rocketed directly at freshman goalkeeper Pedro Bamanca. As the half progressed, Classical found success on the counterattack but was unable to find any scoring.
In the second half, the Rams got off to a better start. They were able to create some chances but failed to get a shot in the net. For a team down a man, it did an impressive job on the attack.
Classical will face off against St. Mary’s on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. and Lynn Tech will face off against Lynn English in the championship of the tournament at 2:45 p.m.
