LYNN — The Lynn Classical girls soccer team took care of business against the Golden Tornadoes of Malden with a 3-0 win at Manning Field Thursday evening.
The Lady Rams outclassed Malden in every part of the pitch, scoring their goals at critical times to improve to 4-1-1 (3-0-1 Greater Boston League).
But it wasn’t easy. Classical came out the blocks firing, but couldn’t find a tally through 20 minutes.
“We were making some good ball connections and playing small ball,” said Classical coach Jessica Gambale. “The communication was there at times. It just took us a little bit of time for us to get into our scoring.”
The deadlock broke as the Rams had a corner kick sent into the box. Malden defenders failed to clear and a loose ball fell to senior captain Gianna Parker, who blasted one into the roof of the net to give the Rams a 1-0 cushion with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
Moments later, the Rams doubled it up. Freshman Mia Duncan intercepted a pass around midfield and drove with the ball before rifling a shot from 18 yards to double Classical’s lead.
“She’s been a huge asset to this team, from her defense to her offense. She’s not afraid to shoot the ball and she’s got a great boot,” Gambale said. “She’s got a couple of those goals this season and I’m sure there are going to be plenty more.”
The Rams went into halftime with a 2-0 lead and Gambale’s message to her players at the break was to start strong when they returned.
“We got two quickly and wanted to come out in the second half stronger and faster,” she said.
Ask, and you shall receive. Just four minutes into the second half, McKenna Duncan sprinted down the right-hand side past Malden’s defense. From the box, she calmly shot to the far corner to make it 3-0.
“I challenged McKenna to go out and score within the first five minutes and she scored in four. It was just amazing work ethic,” Gambale said. “She was making those runs all game and was bound to have one of those runs turn into a goal or an assist in her favor.”
The Duncan sisters, in addition to Parker, all played in the midfield and came up with goals – something Gambale was happy to see.
“Our midfielders are constantly working. They’re out there for the majority of the game and they’re never giving up,” she said. “They’re saving goals on the defensive end and are responsible for a lot of our goals and assists, too.”
The Rams are back in action Tuesday when they travel to Everett at 4:15 p.m.
