boys soccer.htm

The Classical High soccer team lost two of its premier players to graduation -- Miguel Castro and Christian Lopez -- but coach Joe Skahan is confident the team still has a good foundation on which to build the 2010 edition.

Castro had 52 points last year and was the Northeastern Conference North MVP. Lopez, a center midfielder like Castro, was the defensive glue that helped propel the Rams to a second place finish in the NEC and a trip to the state tournament.

"We have some big shoes to fill, but we have a very good overall team to overcome the loss," Skahan said, "and the loss of a half dozen or so other seniors who made things go."

The good news is that last year's team also featured quite a few talented ninth and 10th graders who will now step into the limelight.

Skahan has three captains who he's counting on this year. Dammy Dada took up residence in net last year and he'll be back again this year.

"He's unbelievably athletic," Skahan said. "He did a great job."

Sweeper Greg Rybak is a "talented kid who's loud and passionate about the game and a true leader in any type of situation," Skahan said, adding he thinks he might be one of the best sweepers in the NEC.

The third captain is junior striker Abdoulaye Bah. Skahan said Bah has great footwork and has the ability to "sneak his way into position."

The Rams will also get help from senior defender Joel Reyes, a strong player with good footwork who isn't afraid to be aggressive."

Skahan is also looking for big things from Saif Yousif, a talented striker who made his presence felt late in the season, and sophomore Salvador Castro, Miguel's younger brother.

"He's very talented," Skahan said. "He was involved with the Revolution (soccer team). He's kind of emerging from last year when he was kind of in his brother's shadow ... I think we'll have an excellent season with his ball control, scoring ability and speed ... I think he can be one of the top players on the team."

Skahan said Salvador is like Miguel in that he can play every position on the field and play it well.

"He's very determined and very focused," Skahan said.

Skahan said at this point, his numbers are somewhere in the mid 20s, but he expects them to be closer to 35 or 40 once school is in session. He said a lot of kids are still wrapping up work.

One thing Skahan is hoping will continue this season is the fan support that followed the Rams last year. He said people would even go to away games to cheer on the team.

"Hopefully we can keep the fans coming," he said.

Classical is in the NEC division that also includes English, Revere, Swampscott, Winthrop and Saugus. Peabody, Gloucester, Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead and Salem are in the other half.

Classical will play Danvers and Peabody as "crossover" games and Salem and Beverly in non-conference games.

"We have the chance to play most of the teams we're used to playing," he said. "It seems to me we have a good shot if we put our minds, skills and hearts into it."

In its banquet on Tuesday, the Lynn Classical boys soccer team honored a standout season ... and a memorable individual season.

The Rams finished 2009 with an 11-6-3 record and a Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) tournament appearance. Senior Miguel Castro rewrote the Rams record books during that stretch. He finished his three-plus years on the varsity with 93 goals and 44 assists, both of which are school records. He is the only player in the history of Classical soccer -- both boys and girls -- to break the 100 career-point mark. Now he is playing for the junior team of the New England Revolution, and thinking about the next step.

"He's still undecided," Rams coach Joe Skahan said. "He's being scouted heavily."

At the team banquet at the Prince House of Pizza in Saugus, Castro received a special recognition for the day he reached 100 career points: the ball he kicked into the net for the goal that gave him 100 points, signed by his teammates. Castro is donating the ball to the Classical trophy case. He was also presented with the 2009 Team MVP trophy and a Northeastern Conference All-Star certificate.

Five other players won awards: Cristian Lopez received the Team Backbone Award, Greg Rybak was the Defensive Player of the Year, Guy Guillaume was named Most Improved, Pentelis Thomidis received the Team Heart Award, and Joel Reyes was the Rookie of the Year.

"It was the end of a great season," Skahan said.

Rybak, Dammy Dada and Abdoulaye Bah are the team captains for 2010.

11/07/09 Manning Field - It was a beautiful fall day. But it was not a day for our Varsity Team to shine. MC (Malden Catholic) players seemed bigger, stronger, and faster that us. They also were more aggressive. In the first half, MC racked up 3 goals. Classical had a good second half but goals were called back by the refs and the yellow cards started coming out against both teams. It was still a fine season for the Rams with a 10-6-4 winning record. A big shout out goes to Seniors Cristian Lopez, Miguel Castro, Terry Finnegan, Michael Duggan, Guy Guillaume, Koushick Barua, Dennis Husidic, and Pantelis Thomadis.

LYNN -- This game was window dressing for the Classical boys soccer team.

The Rams are already in the tourney and cannot move up or down in the NEC. They are ensconced in second place behind Peabody and are prepping for the states. They have dropped down from D1 to D2. As far as English was concerned, everything was riding on Thursday's game. The Bulldogs needed two wins in their last two games to qualify.

Before the game, Rams coach Joe Skahan said, "We just want to play a clean game, no injuries and no cards. The states start in a week and we want to be ready."

Kerry King, the English coach, was encouraging his players to relax and play their game.

Classical emerged with a 2-1 win over English at Manning Field.

In the first half, English had chances, with three breakaways that Classical keeper Dammy Dada stopped, one with an incredible kick save. The key to the Classical defense, besides the keeper, was the sweeper, junior Greg Rybak. At the other end was the same situation, with keeper Daniel Cordoba and the defense, led by Eric Bransfield, which kept the Ram sharpshooters off the scoreboard. The half ended with the score 0-0.

The entire game -- and English's season -- was wrapped up in the last eight minutes of play.

In the 72nd minute, English had a corner kick that freshman Leonel Awokang headed into the net off a Classical defender. The ball was going to the keeper when it hit a Ram defender and veered into the net. This made the score 1-0, English. This was the third meeting of these two teams with Classical winning both of the earlier games by one goal. The Bulldogs looked like they were on their way.

Three minutes later, the Bulldogs' joy turned to anguish as Miguel Castro took a long feed from Guy Guillame and kicked a chip shot over the onrushing Bulldog keeper to make the score 1-1.

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The Soccer team tried its best against Everett, and did well in the second half, with Saint scoring on an assist by Guy Guillaume. Dammy Doda and Greg Ryback also had strong games. With both Salvador and Miguel Castro coming back from suspensions for the next game, it is just in time for the important game against Peabody this Tuesday, October 27th.

Revere 2, Classical 0

At Revere, Jensi Guzman peppered the Classical net all day and two of his shots found their way in. Revere is 6-6-2 with four games remaining. Classical was missing several players, including sharpshooter Miguel Castro, who is out for two games because of red cards. Greg Ryback played well on defense for the Rams (9-3-4).

Once again, Classical senior Miguel Castro showed why he is one of the premier soccer players in the state on Wednesday at Manning Field.

With the Rams still trying to get healthy on defense and in a battle with Beverly, Castro took care of the offense himself. He scored twice on unassisted goals and added a free kick and a penalty-kick goal to help the Rams get a much-needed point in a 4-4 tie.

"We really needed him and his impact was huge," Classical coach Joe Skahan said.

Castro's impact was even more impressive considering he sat for nearly 25 minutes after receiving a yellow card in the first half.

The Rams (9-2-4) also got an outstanding effort in net from Dammy Dada.

"This wasn't one of those great games to coach in, but I'm sure it was pretty fun to watch," Skahan said.

The fans who came to Bertram Field on Monday watched as Lynn Classical and Salem basically threw defense out the window and lit up the scoreboard at an amazing clip.

Salem's Edwin DeMoya scored four times as it looked like the Witches were going to come away with the upset win. But Classical's Salvador Castro had other ideas, scoring against Dan McCarthy with a minute to go to salvage a 5-5 tie.

"We were lucky that we got out with a point," Classical coach Joe Skahan said.

Salem (5-6-3) jumped to a 2-0 lead before the Rams (9-2-3) rallied to tie the game at halftime. Miguel Castro had a pair of goals and an assist for Classical with Jonathan DeLeon and Abdoulay Bah also having goals.

The Witches' other goal came off the foot of Nuur Muhammed.

Miguel Castro scored the game's only goal with only four minutes remaining to put Classical's boys soccer team past Gloucester, 1-0, and in the state tournament for the second consecutive year.
"To make the tournament two years in a row," Rams coach Joe Skahan said after Thursday's win at Manning Field, "and for everyone to be playing so well is a great feeling."
Dammy Dada returned to action after missing the previous two games due to getting a red card. He turned away 13 shots and recorded his fourth shutout of the season.
"To have (Dada) back is huge for this team," said Skahan. "He plays so well for us."
Joel Ruiz and Greg Rybak had standout defensive performances for the Rams (9-2-2).

Playing on the road at always-challenging Miller Field in Winthrop was going to be a hard enough challenge for the Lynn Classical soccer team. But add in five starters out of the lineup because of various reasons and red cards, and the job for the Rams got that much more challenging.

Fortunately for coach Joe Skahan's team, Salvador Castro was on his game. Castro scored four times and assisted on a fifth goal as the Rams exploded for seven markers in a 7-4 win over the Vikings.

"All the guys played great," Skahan said.

Kevin Kakou added a goal and two assists for Classical (8-2-2) with Christian Lopez having a goal and an assist. Dennis Husidic added the other Ram goal.

The Rams host Gloucester today (4) at Manning Field. A win would put the Rams in the state tournament.

At Danvers, Chris Ciampa followed up a four-goal performance against Peabody earlier in the week with a three-goal game Wednesday against the Rams (7-2-2). Ciampa, a senior captain, also had an assist. Tom Hurley (goal, 2 assists) and Nick Amico (goal) rounded out the scoring for the Falcons (8-2-1, 8-0-1 Northeastern Conference).

It was the Castro brothers getting the job done for the Rams. Miguel Castro had two goals and Salvador Castro had one. Greg Ryback played well on defense.

By Art McManus / For The Item
LYNN -- Before the game started, Classical had a record of 7-1-1, riding up at the top of the Northeastern Conference. Swampscott, on the other hand, had a record of 3-4 and was sitting in the middle of the pack in the NEC. However, the game resulted in a 3-3 tie between the Rams and Big Blue.

Marblehead 2, Classical 2

At Manning Field, Miguel Castro was taken down in the box late in the second half, drawing a penalty kick that he converted on with 2:00 left to earn the Rams a draw.

Marblehead (5-1-2) had taken a 1-0 lead on Nate Cullen's penalty-kick goal in the first half before Classical (7-1-1) fought back to tie late in the half.

Dillon Irving scored off a Mike Brenan corner kick midway through the second half to give Marblehead back the lead before Castro's PK tied it.

Classical 6, Saugus 0

At Saugus, freshman Salvador Castro had a hat trick and Miguel Castro, Abdoulaye Bab and Ronald DeLeon added one each as the Rams upped their record to 7-1, 5-1 NEC. Greg Ryback picked up an assist and Dammy Dada had the shutout. Saugus (1-6) had solid play from defenders Larry Bolduc and K.J. Mills and keeper Andrew Atton.

At Peabody, it was a clash of the titans, in this case two Northeastern Conference North rivals, and it lived up to its billing.

Peabody scored twice in the first half, on goals by Kyle McGlone and Matt Rogers. The Rams' Salvador Castro got one back and nearly snagged the tie, but Peabody keeper Jason Ryan made a web-gem of a save on a penalty kick by Rams sharpshooter Miguel Castro. Classical had a couple of near-misses in the final minutes, but Ryan hung tough for the win.

"It was a great game. The place was packed. It was an incredible crowd," Peabody coach Stan McKeen said.

Classical is 5-1 overall, 3-1 NEC North. Peabody is 3-0-1.

Miguel and Salvador Castro made it a family affair Monday as they combined to score all five goals in Classical's 5-1 win over Revere at Manning Field.

Older brother Miguel notched his third hat trick in as many games, while freshman Salvador accounted for the first two goals of the game. They each assisted on one of the other's goals as well. Two of Miguel's goals came on free kicks.

"They play so well together," Classical coach Dave Skahan said. "They always know where the other one is. They're both highly skilled. It's just awesome to watch them play."

Miguel Castro now has 10 goals and three assists and Salvador Castro has four goals and as many assists. The Rams (5-0, 3-0 Northeastern Conference) had excellent games from Dammy Dada in net and Ronald DeLeon on defense. They play Peabody Wednesday at Peabody.

Classical Edges English 3-2 to Win the Championship.

Rams captain Miguel Castro was the hero of the boys game. His goal with under two minutes left in regulation was the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over English.

In the boys game, English scored first with one minute left in the first half. A beautiful through ball pass from sophomore midfielder Jefferson Fubellah to senior midfielder Alex Mulbah breaking in from the right side of the area set Mulbah alone ten yards out in front of Classical keeper Dammy Dada. Mulbah scored against Dada low left to put English ahead 1-0, which remained the score at halftime.

In the 50th minute, Classical struck. An shot on the English keeper, freshman Nick Medeiros, was misplayed and the ball bounced to sophomore Ram striker Abdoulaye Bah, who wasted no time in putting the ball over the keeper into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

Seven minutes later, Classical struck again. Bah fired a laser shot at the far corner, but Medeiros made a spectacular diving deflection. The English defenders failed to clear the rebound, however, and Ram striker Salvador Castro had an easy shot and put it in the net. For the first time in the game, Classical led, 2-1.

English was relentless as the Bulldogs swarmed all over the Classical defenders, trying to tie up the game. In the 73rd minute, the referee called a tripping foul on a Classical defender in the area and English was awarded a penalty shot. Fubellah took the shot and put the ball inches inside the right post to tie the game at 2-2.

The rain picked up in intensity and as everyone was getting ready for a shootout to determine the city champion, the referee called a tripping foul on English in the area, and with less than two minutes to go, Classical had a chance to go ahead.

The shooter for Classical was captain Miguel Castro. He made no mistake and drilled the ball into the top right corner to put Classical ahead to stay, 3-2.

LYNN - Coming off a second place finish in the Northeastern Conference's large division and a tournament berth, the Lynn Classical boys soccer team is hoping the build off its momentum from last season.

The Rams finished the 2008 campaign with an 11-5-3 mark and earned the 9th seed in the tourney, though they fell to Brookline , 3-0, in the first round. Classical lost nine of 11 starters and 13 of the 20 players on the varsity squad, but coach Joe Skahan is optimistic about his team's chances this fall.

"We had 38-40 kids show up to the first day of practice (Thursday), which is a great number," Skahan said. "Some of the kids are still working, so to have that many players turn out during the first week of double sessions is encouraging."

The most significant returnee is senior tri-captain Miguel Castro, who was the conference Player of the Year with 26 goals and nine assists. At either striker or midfielder, Castro figures to provide the Rams with plenty of offense again this season.

Christian Lopez is another captain who will play the all-important center midfield position, and the third captain is Greg Rybak, who will lead the Rams' defense this season.

Ron DeLeon is another defender who will be counted upon. The Rams lost talented defender Danny Henriquez and goalkeeper Jeremy Dorson to graduation, and will need to find players to fill those roles. Classical does have some players from last year's junior varsity who could step up.

In addition to Castro, Classical has plenty of depth and strength up front with strikers Kevin Kakou and Abdoulaye Bah. Another intriguing player is Castro's younger brother, Salvatore, a freshman who has been impressive during the first few days of practice.

"He's a very talented newcomer," Skahan said.

Skahan has been encouraged by the quality of the underclassmen, particularly the freshmen.

"We have a lot of younger brothers of players who have been with the program," he said. "There are some really, really promising freshmen we're looking forward to adding to the roster this season."

Skahan hasn't set any goals for the team, but another tournament berth is certainly within the Rams' grasp. In the conference, Peabody is likely still the team to beat, and in the small school division Swampscott, which Classical only plays once during the regular season, should also be a formidable foe.

" Peabody is always right up there, and teams like Danvers and Gloucester are always good," Skahan said. "Our goal is to play as well as we can in each game and beat as many teams as we can."

Prospective players can still try out for the team. Practices will be held between 10-noon and 2-4 p.m. Monday through Friday next week at Hood Park , though each player must pass a physical before he takes the field.

Skahan is still working out a pre-season scrimmage schedule, and he expects the Rams will participate in a couple of tune-ups before they open the season with the city tournament on Tuesday, Sept. 8, against Lynn Tech, at Manning Field.