Red Devil Football Falls to Assabet Valley, 32-0

The Chelsea High football team made the long trek to Marlborough to take on Assabet Valley Regional last Friday evening, but came back empty-handed in the wake of a 32-0 loss.

Assabet, which plays in the Vocational School League and sported a 2-1 record coming into the contest, got on the board early with 60 yard drive in 12 plays in the opening period for an 8-0 lead.

Assabet added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, at the 5:45 mark and then with just 0:19 left in the half, to take a commanding 24-0 lead into the intermission.

The Chelsea defense did a nice job in the third period, keeping Assabet off the board, but the Red Devil offense was unable to generate any momentum. Assabet added another TD in the final frame for the 32-0 finale.

CHS head coach Mike Stellato cited a number of his charges for strong efforts on the defensive side of the ball. Senior defensive back Brandon Morales; freshman safety Nelson Vega;  sophomore defensive end Francisco Mercedes; senior defensive tackle Angel Gamboni; junior linebacker Jose Martinez; and senior linebacker Raul Flores.

For the offense, the coach lauded sophomore running back Kalvin Duran; sophomore tight end Adrial Rodriguez; and senior offensive tackle Mark Beltran.

The Red Devils will return home Friday evening for a contest with Shawsheen. Shawsheen plays in the Large Division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference and comes into the tilt with a 3-1 record, with victories of 20-7 over Arlington Catholic, 55-45 over Cambridge, and 43-13 over Lynn Tech. Tech is a common foe between the teams, with the Red Devils having dropped a 15-6 decision in the season opener.

Kick off time at Chelsea Stadium is at 7:00.

CHS boys soccer team wins three games

The Chelsea High boys soccer team remained unbeaten with three impressive victories this past week. The Red Devils cruised past Mystic Valley on Friday, 7-0; edged former Greater Boston League foe Haverhill on Monday, 2-1; and took the measure of Commonwealth Athletic Conference archrival Greater Lowell on Tuesday, 3-0. Chelsea now stands at 5-0-1 on the season.

Chelsea was a heavy favorite coming into Friday’s encounter with Mystic Valley and the Red Devils wasted no time in asserting their control of the contest, grabbing a 5-0 lead at the half.

A trio of Red and Black players, Luis Cruz, Walter Guzman, and Carlos Lainez, scored two goals apiece to pace the CHS victory. Brayner Sanchez also reached the back of the MV net.

The comfortable triumph allowed CHS head coach Mick Milutinovic the opportunity to give his entire team some significant playing time.

The Red Devils trekked to Haverhill Monday for a non league affair. Haverhill, which along with Chelsea was a member of the Greater Boston League in the late 1970s and 1980s, now  plays in the Merrimack Valley League, giving the Devils a chance to step out of the CAC and take on a Division 1 school.

Chelsea drew first blood midway through the opening half, with Mario Aguilar converting home a crossing pass from Lainez, who was deep in the Haverhill end. However, Haverhill responded five minutes later to leave matters deadlocked at 1-1 at the intermission

The Red Devils continued to control the play in the second half, much as they had in the first half, and finally broke through for the go ahead marker with about 15 minutes to go when Cruz dribbled in from the 18 yard line and let go a nice shot that beat the Haverhill keeper.

“Haverhill was a scrappy team who gave us a tough game,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki. “We had plenty of chances, but it took us some time to pull ahead.”

Tuesday’s match at Greater Lowell marked the teams’ first meeting since the last game of the 2011 season in which Greater Lowell knocked off the Red Devils, who already had clinched both the league title and a state tourney berth.

So it was with much anticipation that Chelsea looked forward to the contest with an eye toward “setting the record straight,” so to speak, as to who is the top dog in the CAC. When the ref’s final series of whistles signaled the end of the game, the end result left little doubt as to the answer to that question, with the Red Devils on top with a 3-0 shutout.

Lainez staked Chelsea to an early advantage with a pair of goals in the first half, both of which were powerful shots from the left that cleanly beat the Greater Lowell keeper from the top corner area of the box. The first was unassisted and the second was assisted by Kilmer Carillo.

The Red Devils continued to hold off Greater Lowell with some excellent defensive play and goal keeping by Junior Rivera after the intermission. Cruz then potted his 12th goal of the year, assisted by Michael Kottu, who delivered a nice crossing pass, to put the game on ice.

“Greater Lowell always plays us tough on their field and they have a lot of talent,” said Protasowicki. “Our defense was superb and we played what was perhaps our best game of the year for all 80 minutes.”

The Red Devils have a stretch of three home games on tap for the week ahead. They host Northeast Regional today (Thursday); Everett on Monday; and Greater Lowell on Wednesday.

Volleyball team working hard and improving

Although the Chelsea High volleyball team came up short this week against three of the toughest opponents on the Lady Red Devils’ schedule, CHS head coach Lisa Ceccherini said she is pleased with her team’s effort and improvement since the start of the season.

“We may be outmatched against some of the teams we’ve played, but we never give up,” said Ceccherini. “The refs and opposing coaches compliment us after every game and tell our girls what tough competitors they are.”

Ceccherini has been stressing the passing game with her charges, most of whom are either up from the junior varsity or who are new to the program. “Volleyball begins with passing,” said Ceccherini, “because that is where you have to make the transition from defense to offense.”

Ceccherini was effusive in her praise of the leadership demonstrated by her trio of senior captains, Cristal Rodriguez, Deina Mejia, and Danisse Vega, thus far this season.

“Cristal has been the backbone of our defense,” said the coach. “She also has been a great passer and is one of our leaders on the court. Deina has been stepping up offensively and has become a strong blocker at the net. Danisse has been a versatile player for us, both as a setter and as a hitter.”

Ceccherini also praised Rebecca Torento for her solid play on offense and defense. She noted that Melicia Ivanis has been coming into her own as a hitter and leads the Lady Red Devils in kills. The coach also lauded the play of Claire Pizarro, who has improved greatly and thus has been seeing more playing time as the season has progressed.

One setback for the Lady Red Devils has been the absence of junior starter Marina Melendez, who suffered a concussion in the game on September 25 and has been out of action ever since.

Ceccherini and her crew will be back in action tomorrow (Friday) when they host Northeast Regional.

Cross country teams fall to Shawsheen

The Chelsea boys and girls cross country teams both came up short in their meets with their Shawsheen Regional counterparts last week.

The boys’ meet featured a showdown between two undefeated squads who have battled for supremacy in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference in the past few seasons. Last year it was the Red Devils’ turn to come put on top with a dramatic 28-29 victory, but this year belonged to Shawsheen by a 17-40 margin.

Shawsheen claimed the first three spots which all but gave them the victory.  Chester Rath was the first Chelsea runner, finishing fourth overall.  Freshman Luis Romero was the second Chelsea finisher, claiming seventh place.  Sophomore Faisal Nasimi was eighth and sophomore Jeffrey Estrada took ninth.  Tony Nguyen (12th) and Jay Pedreo finished the scoring for Chelsea.

“The meet was disappointing,” said CHS coach Don Fay. “I think we could have run better and had a much closer outcome.  We will see them again in the league meet at the end of October.”

The Red Devil boys are now 5-1 heading into next Monday’s meet against Gr. Lowell.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Red fell by a score of 22-36 to the Shawsheen girls.

Tatyana Almedia was third overall followed by Patty Guardado in fourth place.  Neris Yanes was seventh. At that point in the race the contest still was very close, but Shawsheen took the next two spots to claim the victory.

Bahiya Nasuuna was 10th and Daisy Mejia was 13th overall for the Lady Red Devils.

“We do not have a lot of depth this year,” said Fay. “We can keep it close up front, but we struggle getting in our last couple of scoring runners.”

The CHS girls also will face Gr. Lowell next Monday.

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