Tide boys’ soccer remains in contention for a playoff berth with the regular season winding down

Everett hits the road for Somerville, Medford next week after facing the Lynn teams earlier this week

By Joe McConnell

With four games left in the regular season, the Everett High School boys’ soccer team (4-6-4) needs to win at least three of them to qualify for the Division 1 state tournament with a winning record.

The Crimson Tide began last week with a thrilling 4-3 win over visiting Chelsea at 7-Acres on Oct. 7.

“In the first 10 minutes against Chelsea, we gave up two early goals,” said second-year coach Rodney Landaverde. “I then called an immediate timeout to settle them down, and also to emphasize that we were still in the game and needed to regroup, while staying disciplined at the same time.”

After listening to his coach, senior captain Gabriel Garcia began to pressure the Chelsea defense, before bagging his first goal of the game on a long ball from Whitney Pereira.

A couple of minutes later, according to Landaverde, Garcia received a great through ball from Saymon Coelho to tie up the proceedings, and just before halftime, he picked up a penalty kick goal to complete the natural hat trick.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair early on. Both teams then started to become aggressive to create scoring chances, but the home team was beyond dominating, according to Landaverde.

With just six minutes left in the game, Chelsea earned a free kick from 40 yards away and was able to place a header off the crossbar to tie up the game at three.

With two minutes remaining on the clock, a Kevin Renderos throw-in to Garcia resulted in his fourth goal of the game, only one of four Everett players to ever do so in the history of the program. It also turned out to be the game-winning marker, but not before giving Landaverde some angst in the waning minute.

“With one minute remaining in the game, we gave up an immature penalty kick, and as a result junior goalie Edwin Carbajal had to face the shot with everything on the line. But he ended up making an incredible leg save that sent the ball in the air, which ultimately won it for us,” the coach said.

Two days later at Rivergreen, Revere, one of the top teams in the Greater Boston League (GBL), was able to beat the home team, 3-1.

“(The Patriots) took the early lead, but it did not detour us,” said Landaverde. “Our midfielders and defensemen were holding down the lines, while combining really well to create scoring chances all game long.”

Still trailing 1-0 midway through the game, the Tide continued to challenge the visitors from the Beach City, and with 16 minutes remaining in the game junior captain Rene Lainez sent a through ball to freshman Miguel Santos, who accounted for the game tying goal. But Revere was able to get it right back on another set play to regain the lead. They then added the all-important insurance tally that secured the victory.

It was then off to Dorchester, where they took on non-league BC High last Saturday, Oct. 11. The Eaglets were able to be beat the Everett boys in a close game, 2-0.

“It was a very tense matchup against the fourth-ranked team in Division 1,” said Landaverde. “We traveled with a small squad, but still were able to create many scoring chances.”

BC High scored its first goal on a long throw-in, but as it turned out, it was the only clear shot they had on net.

Everett junior goalie Diego Teixeria was able to hold his own throughout the majority of the game. Landaverde also singled out Kevin Renderos, who played solidly, along with sophomore Jason Santos, who was credited with strong tackles that made it tough on the host team to generate any offense.

With 15 minutes left, BC High had a chance in the box and didn’t waste it to account for its second score.

The Tide since then returned home for Senior Night against Lynn English at Rivergreen on Oct. 14. They then headed to Lynn’s Manning Field to face the Lynn Classical Rams two nights later. Both games took place after press deadline.

The regular season comes to an end next week on the road against Somerville (Oct. 21) and Medford (Oct. 23). Both games are scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.