LYNN — On a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Manning Field, Lynn Tech’s boys soccer team took on the Lynn Classical Rams in a scrimmage to prepare for the upcoming season. The game ended in a 2-2 draw and there were positives on both sides.
Classical coach Eric Moreno Jr. said he wanted his team to work hard this preseason and take part in a handful of games.
“It’s been great. We’ve been really active this preseason. We’ve done jamborees and we’ve had three scrimmages. We’re trying to stay active,” he said. “You have to see all the different options you have on the field. In a game situation, you can’t really account for what practice brings, which is the pressure.”
When it comes to his players, Moreno Jr. admitted to “pushing them harder” than years’ past.
“For them to come out and take care of business was nice to see,” he said. “I think it went well.”
After the scrimmage against his son’s program, Tech coach Eric Moreno Sr. said this could be a rebuilding year.
“We’re missing a lot of guys who graduated. We have a ton of young talent that we need to develop,” Moreno Sr. said. “We may not be as good as last year, but we’re working hard and we should be able to compete.”
The scrimmage saw Classical dominate possession and take advantage of set pieces. Senior Abbie De Leon provided two assists.
“I just want him to be the senior leader and step up,” Moreno Jr. said of his playmaker. “He scored some nice goals last year and I just want him to continue where he left off.”
The goal-scorer from both of De Leon’s crosses was Chris Galvez, who Moreno Jr. is happy to have back on the field.
“When he’s healthy, he’s on. He’s battled a lot of hamstring injuries, so his name wasn’t mentioned a lot,” Moreno Jr. said. “He’s probably already scored six goals this preseason so far. If he can keep that up, we’ll be in good shape.”
For Tech, despite not having the ball much, Moreno Sr. was pleased that his team found a way to score while, perhaps, not playing its style.
“What we take from this is that we were being dominated by Classical. I told the team to hold the ball, put the ball on the ground, and come out to play – we weren’t doing that. But even though we weren’t doing that, we still scored two goals,” Moreno Sr. said. “When we’re on the field, we have to play like how we practice and how we train. We were playing totally different than how we normally play.”
The regular season is almost here, with Moreno Jr. hoping for a postseason future in Ram land.
“We want to get into the (state) tournament,” he said. “A lot of these guys already won a city championship, which is nice to have in the locker room and we want to get it again. The GBL (Greater Boston League) schedule is very difficult for us. We just want to get into the tournament and say we accomplished it.”
