Tech goalie Coral Gonzalez slides to knock the ball away from a Northeast forward. Item Photo by Katie Morrison
By Harold Rivera
LYNN — The 2016 season hasn’t been about wins and losses for the Lynn Tech girls soccer team and first-year head coach Bruce Diver. As Diver takes the helm at a Tech program that has struggled in recent seasons, the team’s biggest goal is to improve on a game-by-game basis. Signs of improvement were on full display for the Tigers as they played to a 0-0 tie with Northeast on Tuesday afternoon at Manning Field.
Although Northeast carried an advantage over Tech (1-1-1) in experience, as the Knights have 10 seniors on their roster, the Tigers found a way to keep them off the scoreboard. The leader in the Tech efforts was goalkeeper Coral Gonzalez, who was outstanding in net as usual. Gonzalez finished the contest with nine saves, seven of which came in the second half.
Diver praised Gonzalez for her efforts in Tuesday’s tie, and said he’s fortunate to have a player of her caliber on his team.
“She’s probably one of the best in the league,” Diver said of Gonzalez. “I took her out (of the net) last week and I put her in as a striker, and she scored all our goals within two minutes. She holds the team together and she’s a very good kid. I’m fortunate, she’s really good.”
Tech’s offense, on the other hand, was a whole different story in Tuesday’s game. The Tigers struggled to create scoring opportunities, and generated just one shot on net. The lone shot for Tech was in the game’s sixth minute as Priscilla Imul looked to find the back of Northeast’s net, but came up short.
“I’m looking for strikers,” Diver said of his team’s struggles on offense. “I think we’re going to struggle with that this year. We have a lot of underclassmen that I’m working with and I’m sure by next year they’ll get there.”
Northeast struggled to find rhythm on offense in the first half, but the Knights came together for a stronger showing in the game’s latter stages.
In the 41st minute, Julia Agostini looked to get the Knights on the scoreboard but her shot landed in the hands of Tech’s Gonzalez. Agostini tried again in the 42nd minute, but again Gonzalez denied the score.
Madison Hunt broke away from Tech’s defense in the 57th minute for a one-on-one with Gonzalez. Yet again, Gonzalez kept the ball out of her net.
“She’s (Gonzalez) on top of her game,” Diver said. “When she comes to a game, she’s ready to play. She gives it all her all, 120 percent.”
Also performing well for Tech were midfielders Arelis Sanchez and Annmarie Teixeira. Diver credited the pair for playing aggressively throughout the contest.
“They were aggressive and they kept going to the ball,” Diver said. “They weren’t afraid to try to get the ball and get it to the outside, which I’ve been trying to teach them. Games are the best place for them to learn that.”
Although Tech’s roster is heavy in players with limited soccer experience, Diver said he feels the team is slowly inching closer to improving game-by-game.
“I have a lot of new girls on the team,” Diver said. “I’m just working on trying to get all the little things right first. Today, I saw a little bit of that improvement and it worked out well.”
Tech’s next game is on Friday at 4:00 p.m. when the Tigers visit Minuteman.