AUBURN – Edward Little boys’ soccer coach Dave Morin gives Adam Lutz the freedom to move up offensively when he wants. Morse coach Ed Thomas didn’t want to give the junior fullback any freedom Tuesday.

Even after marking him, Lutz broke free for a few seconds late in the second half to score and help the Red Eddies salvage a 1-1 tie with the Shipbuilders.

Twice in the first half, Lutz raced up the right sideline with the ball and gave the Red Eddies (2-2-1) a pair of scoring chances.

After the Shipbuilders (1-2-1) received a goal from Devin Field midway through the second half, Lutz moved up into the offense. Knowing what Lutz could do with the ball, Thomas and the Shipbuilders quickly countered.

“Moments (before Lutz scored), I man-marked him,” said Thomas. “He still scored. He’s a good player.”

Lutz raced up on a loose ball and found an opening through a host of Morse defenders.

“They were all double teaming me,” said Lutz. “Once we had the ball I just tried to squeeze through them. I just kicked the ball and it went through (a defender’s) legs.”

After getting past the fullbacks, Lutz fired a shot toward the lower left of the cage.

“I just kicked it,” he said. “I didn’t even look up.”

Morse keeper Kevin Hutchinson (11 saves) dove to stop the ball, but could only get a glove on before it slipped into the goal.

“He has the option to do that,” Morin said of Lutz’ freedom to move up into the offense. “If he’s going forward we automatically rotate back.”

The match was a listless one until Field’s goal. The junior forward sent a long through pass to Dylan Moreau and then ran up into the play.

Moreau settled the ball and worked his way toward the goal with two EL players challenging him. He then touched the ball to the middle to an onrushing Field, who deked EL keeper Josh Mains (8 saves) and placed a soft shot into the lower right-hand corner.

“They’ve played together for three years,” said Thomas. “They know each other very well. That’s something you can’t coach.”

Following Field’s goal, the game became more physical, and the offensive play opened up. The Shipbuilders had two more chances in the next few minutes, but couldn’t get a quality shot off from the crease area.

The Red Eddies had more offensive opportunities in the second half, but twice they were offsides. Another time, Eric Prue sent a pass to Ben Hartnett at the top of the crease. Hartnett tried to blast away with his left foot, but he misfired. Hutchinson dove across to collect the squibbed shot.

“I thought we played well,” said Morin. “We were offside a couple of times and we couldn’t finish, but we made the right runs and moved the ball well.”