LYNN — The Lynn Tech boys soccer team pelted the Mystic Valley Eagles with scoring chances and capitalized on just enough of them to take a 5-1 victory Wednesday at Manning Field.
Senior Erikson Licardie started the fire for his team and eventually put the dagger in the Eagles with a spectacular performance in which he put up three goals for a hat trick.
“Erikson [Licardie] – he is an unbelievable player. He runs back and forth; he is always running; if he loses the ball, he is running and getting it back. He was really all over the field today, and he was really unstoppable,” said Coach Briana Moreno.
From the jump, the game looked like it was going to be a back-and-forth affair, with each team getting its fair amount of scoring opportunities. However, as play progressed, especially during the first half, the game was played almost exclusively on the side of the field Mystic Valley was defending.
Tech had a heavy amount of pressure and forced corner kicks and shots within the box that forced Mystic Valley’s goaltender and defense to be ready. Several of the Tigers’ chances came from players like junior Gregoire Amissi and senior Kevin Yuman.
As Tech continued its great passing and offensive pressure, they finally broke through with 18 minutes left in the first half. Licardie made a spectacular offensive play in which the defense stifled him to the point he fell to the ground. However, Licardie quickly recovered, shook off a defender, and fired a laser into the back of the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Only a few minutes later, the Tigers kept their momentum going and Amissi had a beautiful assist to set up a goal from junior Felipe De Oliviera to extend their lead to 2-0.
Even trailing by two goals, Mystic Valley did not go away quietly. Several minutes into the start of the second half, the Eagles were unbelievably fortunate. Mystic Valley scored its first goal of the game on a corner kick that bounced off a Tech defender to make the game 2-1.
After Tech’s own goal, no matter how many chances the Tigers seemed to get, they could not finish, and Mystic Valley was able to hang around. Finally, with 20 minutes remaining in the game, the scoring drought for Tech ended. Licardie scored off a rebound and minutes later scored again to complete a hat trick and give the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
Before the final whistle blew, Amissi notched a goal to put the icing on the cake giving Tech the 5-1 victory. Remarkably, the Tigers were down several key players due to injuries, and the subs responded in a colossal way showing exactly how deep and talented Tech is.
“It just shows their strength, and it shows their ability to adjust. When the players came off the bench, and they were able to help out our team – some people, it was their first time starting, and they really put on a great performance for us,” said Moreno.
Overall, the team’s performance was something that drew high praise from Moreno especially considering the circumstances.
“We tried to put a different lineup up – do the best that we could, put our best foot forward, and we are very proud of their performance,” said Moreno.
Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
