LYNN — The Lynn Classical boys soccer team picked up a big emotional win Thursday afternoon at Manning Field, scoring two goals in the final six minutes of play to defeat rival Lynn English by a score of 3-2.
“This was an emotional one because it basically kept our season alive,” said Classical coach Eric Moreno Jr. “We needed to win this game if we wanted to have a chance to make the tournament, and the guys really felt that. It was great to be able to rally and pull out the win.”
The Rams got goals from Elzon Halimi, Imer Payes and Jair Alvarez in the win, while Gabriel Sarmento had one assist. Goalkeeper Isaiah Diaz made six saves in the win.
For English, Jalen Coriolan and Raymond Andre Ferrera each scored a goal in the loss. Goalkeeper Jack Mancaniello made seven saves for the Bulldogs.
“We played a great game, but unfortunately things didn’t go our way down the stretch,” said English coach Kerry King. “I give a lot of credit to Eric and Classical; they really pushed hard towards the end to get the win. We just need to play better soccer down the stretch of games.”
Prior to the game, the Bulldogs honored their three seniors — Coriolan, Keiner Lopez and Martin Nghandui — for Senior Night.
“Jalen is a four-year starter and the heartbeat of this team, and we’ll miss him very much,” said King. “Martin is a transfer from Maryland and we’ve only had him for one year, but he’s made a huge impact and he’ll be missed as well. Keiner is a solid-as-a-rock defender and a key part of our team. They’ve all meant so much to this program and it’ll be sad to see them go.”
Classical couldn’t have gotten off to a better start if it had tried, scoring just 20 seconds into the game when Payes found the back of the net to make it 1-0.
But it didn’t take long for English to answer back, as Andre Ferrera was taken down in the box about six minutes later and earned a penalty kick. He took two steps and fired it into the back of the net, tying the score at 1-1.
While each team had its fair share of scoring opportunities throughout the rest of the half, neither team could get on the board and the score remained tied at halftime.
In the second half, it was English that came out and struck first. Once again, a Bulldogs player was taken down in the box and once again a penalty kick was awarded. This time it was Coriolan and he came through, scoring to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
That’s where the score remained until the six-minute mark of the game, when Classical’s Jose Gomez Gomez was taken down in the box and a penalty kick was awarded. Halimi was chosen to take the kick for Classical, and he bent a shot just underneath the crossbar to make it 2-2.
Just four minutes later, Alvarez broke through the defense and slipped the shot past the English goalkeeper to give the Rams a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish.
When the final buzzer sounded, Classical erupted into cheers as their state tournament hopes remained alive.
“We’ve pretty much been in tournament mode since Monday, and we know we have to win out in order to make it in,” said Moreno. “It all comes down to Monday against Somerville now.”
English (4-10-1) is off until Wednesday (3:45) when it hosts Malden.
“We’ve been playing better lately and we have a young team that’s still growing, so we’re just trying to go into the offseason with some momentum,” said King, whose team has effectively been eliminated from postseason contention. “I’m really excited about our future and I can’t wait to see what we grow into.”
Classical (6-8-2) hosts Somerville Monday (4) in its regular season finale. A win would give the Rams a berth in the upcoming state tournament.
“We’re going to be ready to go,” said Moreno.