DANVERS — Six Lynn Youth Soccer teams recently participated in the Danvers Invitational Tournament. The boys 5th/6th grade team took home first place, while the girls 7th/8th grade squad placed second.
It was a three-day tournament. Each team played two games on Saturday and two on Sunday before championship Monday.
The boys, who finished 5-0, competed against Danvers, Stoneham, North Andover, and Woburn en route to the championship game.
There, Lynn faced Woburn, a team it began the tournament against and met again for all the marbles. It was a “defensive battle,” according to coach Chris Hanlon.
The game went into overtime, when fatigue could’ve become a factor. However, Lynn turned it up a notch, scoring two goals in the 10-minute period to win, 2-0.
“Both teams were amazing. The fans on both sides were great, the stands were filled up, and they were boisterous,” Hanlon said. “The boys were nervous, but confident. Our goalie made a lot of great saves to push it into overtime.”
The first overtime goal came from Robert Antonuccio after a “great assist” by Jacob Lopez. Lynn doubled its lead to seal the deal, courtesy of Thomas O’Brien.
“The celebrations were fantastic,” Hanlon said. “I felt like the kids could have played another game. They were so amped up.”
Hanlon and coach Carla Moniz work with the athletes throughout the year. They coach futsal during the winter.
“We are with the kids year-round. We have summer and winter practices, and we’ll practice at the elementary schools when we can during the winter,” Hanlon said. “It’s a real commitment, but it was a great team effort from everyone to win this tournament.”
On the girls’ side, their tournament didn’t get off to the best start. Lynn lost to the eventual champion Woburn Cobras, 4-0.
“My team battled. In our first game, we played the Woburn Cobras, which we knew was going to be a very difficult challenge. They’re a group ahead of us in Essex County Youth Soccer in the regular season. We knew they were in a more skilled division and we had our work cut out for us,” said coach Karyn Miller. “We didn’t play our best game. We did not play a great second half and one of the things I said to my team of girls was that we cannot just be a first-half team.”
Lynn bounced back in its second game against Manchester-Essex (2-1 final). Miller said she was proud of her players for stepping up against a familiar foe.
The girls then battled a different Woburn team called the Woburn Orange Crush. They lost, 1-0, but had a chance at redemption in the semifinals.
“We made it to the semifinals based on other team losses. We played against the Orange Crush again the following morning and it was another battle,” Miller said. “We went into double overtime before having the game settled at penalty kicks, which we won.”
The win sent Lynn to the championship game against the Cobras.
“I told my girls that we were on a redemption tour that weekend,” Miller said. “We were able to redeem ourselves against Manchester-Essex and got a second shot at the Woburn Orange Crush — and they did that.”
With a tough opponent and no substitutions, due to illnesses, Lynn was edged, 2-1, in the title game.
“It was 2-0 at halftime, but the team didn’t quit and we fought back and scored,” Miller said. “We had a lot of opportunities to score again, but didn’t get enough to tie it up and force overtime.”
Hanlon and Miller have been impressed with Lynn Youth Soccer’s participation numbers over the years.
“This year, we recently had our tryouts and a lot of the parents who have been here for years all said that this has been the best turnout in a very long time for the third and fourth graders, as well as the fifth and sixth graders,” Hanlon said.
“We hosted our tryout last weekend for our upcoming fall travel team,” Miller said. “We had over 200 athletes who came out . . . it ranges from grade three to grade eight, so that was huge and it showed that our program is trending in the right direction.”
