LYNN — Helen Pojoy simply couldn’t stop scoring goals as she led the Lynn Tech girls soccer team to an 8-2 win over the KIPP Academy Panthers.
Lynn Tech coach Justin Barrasso said after the match that even though the last few games haven’t been their best, his team has kept working hard.
“KIPP’s a tough intra-city rival for us but I think that last week, even though we struggled in our games last week to produce wins, it paid off (Monday) because we put the work in and I think that paid off,” he said.
The Tigers got off to a blazing start, controlling possession for the first five minutes of the match and getting an early corner. In the eighth minute, Helen Pojoy had another chance and sent a beautiful ball into the box from the right corner, but her shot sailed over the crossbar.
Pojoy eventually got the Tigers on the board, capping off a lengthy solo run with a goal tucked into the bottom left corner of the net to give Lynn Tech a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. The junior continued to show her skill by launching a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner of the net. Fifteen minutes into the match, she already had a hat trick, which made it a 3-0 lead for Lynn Tech.
Throughout the match, Pojoy showed how complete of a player she is; this was on display when she stole the ball from opponents, dazzling defenders with her skill on the ball. She went on to tuck in another goal before the end of the half, which gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead in the 22nd minute.
“Helen is phenomenal,” Barrasso said. “As good as a goal scorer she is, she is a better teammate and an even better captain. She is the leader of this team. She’s our heart and soul and again as great as she is during games, she powers us during our practices too and really gives us life and you saw that on the field today.”
While the scoreline might not indicate it, KIPP goalkeeper Maria Ruiz performed quite well. She made some great one-on-one saves and did her best to keep the Panthers in the game.
Pojoy shared the love as she dropped the ball off to senior Sandy Garcia, who slotted it home to make it 5-0 with five minutes to go in the first half.
The second half started off a lot better for KIPP Academy, which finally scored five minutes into the second half to ruin the shootout for the Tigers and make it a 5-1 game. A few moments later, in the 48th minute of the match, KIPP captain Rebecca Unubun made it 5-2, thanks to a curled long-range shot outside of the box.
Pojoy once again found the back of the net to snag her fourth goal of the game to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead in the 57th minute of the match. Garcia added to her tally, launching a long-range shot to give Lynn Tech a 7-2 lead in the 67th minute. The final goal of the game for the Tigers came courtesy of senior Felicity Blaney, who made it an 8-2 game.
KIPP will look to get its first win of the season when it plays Minuteman Regional Thursday (4:30).
The Tigers travel on the road Tuesday (4) to go up against Nashoba Valley Tech.
