Girls Soccer Team Ends Season with 4-0 Victory

The Chelsea girls finished off their season last Wednesday in fine fashion, defeating Greater Lawrence, 4-0.  Chelsea took an early lead with a breakaway goal on the right side by Senior Nuria Arevalo in the 15th minute.  The Chelsea girls held tough in defense, not allowing the Greater Lawrence forwards to break through the defensive line.

During the second half, the Lady Red Devils went on the attack, scoring three more unanswered goals to make it a 4-0 contest.  Arevalo added two more goals on the day to end with a hat trick.  Junior captain Cinthia Lopez also reached the back of the Greater Lawrence net to record her first goal of the season on a deflected ball.

Chelsea continued to play tough defense and maintained control of the ball to finish off their shutout of the Lady Reggies from Greater Lawrence

“It was a great way to end the season and celebrate our seniors,  Cindy Cruz, Katherine Velasquez, Anissa Santiago, Nuria Arevalo, and Marta Maldonado,” said CHS head coach Kim Huffer.

Two Lady Red Devils players were named to the Commonwealth Athletic Conference All-Star team. Senior captain Cindy Cruz (defense) and senior Nuria Arevalo (forward) were chosen by the league to receive the honor.

“Cindy really led the defense this past season, both in her presence at practice and on the field,” said Huffer.  “Cindy was a consistent presence on the back line which often had two or three ‘rookie’ members with her.

“Nuria has been our scoring machine this season, scoring 75% of our goals throughout the season,” Huffer said. “She has been an asset to our team in her first season with us.”  The two will be honored at an All-Star luncheon in November.

“Unfortunately we won’t be heading to the state tournament this year, but it will be our goal to return next year,” added Huffer.  We have a core group of players who will return next year and the hope is that we can build on the growth of those players next season.

“Moving to the upper division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference was a challenge this year,” the coach continued. “The teams in the upper division have well-established programs and have players who have been playing since they were in elementary school.  It is our hope that as the Chelsea High School girls program continues to grow, there will be a greater interest in soccer by  younger girls in the community.”

CHS boys soccer team completes     undefeated season

The Chelsea High boys soccer team finished off an unbeaten season with a 2-1 triumph over Whittier Tech last Thursday afternoon on the turf at Chelsea Stadium.. The victory put the finishing touch on the Red Devils’ 14-0-2 final record.

The contest was nowhere near as close as the final score might indicate. The Red Devils controlled the play and the tempo of the game from the outset, but managed to deliver only two balls into the back of the Whittier net.

The first goal of the contest came off the head of Luis Cruz, his 23rd of the season. Defenseman Pedro Alvarado sent a direct kick from just inside the midfield stripe into the box, where Cruz got  to the ball in front of the Whittier keeper and headed the ball over him.

The Red Devils made it 2-0 in the second half with Alavrado once again earning the assist, this time when he delivered a crossing pass into the box where it was settled by Walter Guzman who then beat the Whittier keeper with a nice shot.

Whittier managed to get on the scoreboard in the final 30 seconds, but by then it was too little, too late for Whittier to mount a serious challenge to spoiling Chelsea’s unbeaten season.

“The team played well,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki. “It may not have been a win by as a wide a margin of some of our other games, but it was a solid victory for us.”

Head coach Mick Milutinovic’s Red Devils, who captured the undisputed championship of the Large Division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference, now will await word of their seeding and opening round pairing in the Division 1 North Sectional of the MIAA state tournament.

Chelsea stands to be awarded one of the top three seeds (Somerville and Masconomet also were undefeated at press time), which will assure the Red Devils of two home games and perhaps even a bye in the opening round. The MIAA will announce its brackets later this week, with the first games most likely starting this weekend.

CHS football team rolls to first win, 36-8

The Chelsea High football team earned its first victory of the season with an impressive 36-8 triumph at Mystic Valley Friday evening. With quarterbacks Steven Dwyer and Mark Anthony Williams both sidelined with injuries, freshman Alex Rodriquez was tapped by head coach Mike Stellato to start his first varsity game.

“Alex did a great job throwing the ball and running our offense,” said Stellato of Rodriquez’s performance, which included two touchdown passes.

Red Devil running back  Senior Raul Flores also had a great night on offense, rushing for 170 yards on 19 carries and scoring three touchdowns, including a 40 yard jaunt into the endzone in the second period.

The Red Devils asserted control of the contest early, scoring in the opening quarter and then adding two more TDs in the following period. Rodriquez directed a 65 yard drive in 10 plays that was capped by a five yard run for six by Flores. Rodriquez successfully rushed for the two point conversion to make it 8-0.

After the Chelsea defense forced a three-and-out for Mystic, the Red Devils went back to work in the second period, taking over at their own 40. After reaching the MV 40, Flores took the handoff and galloped the remaining distance to paydirt. Raul also ran in for the two point conversion to gave the Red Devils a 16-0 cushion.

Chelsea added another TD before the half ended. An exchange of punts ended up with a Mystic muff on the Chelsea punt. Red Devil senior Mark Beltran recovered the ball at the MV 45, giving Chelsea great field position. The Red Devils did not waste the opportunity, needing only five plays, the last by Flores, to make it a 22-0 bulge at the half. Sophomore running backs Kalvin Duran and Sammy Rivera both made nice contributions on the drive with some big gainers.

Chelsea added to its advantage shortly after the intermission. The Mystic offense got nowhere against the staunch Chelsea defense after taking the opening kickoff, once again being forced to punt without making a first down. Rodriquez soon got Chelsea on the move starting at the CHS 35.  Some nice runs by Flores and Duran moved the chains to the MV 18, from where Rodriquez tossed a TD pass to fellow freshman wide receiver Nelson Vega to up the count to 28-0.

The Red Devils put the icing on their victory after they recovered a Mystic fumble. The duo of  Rodriquez and Vega once again connected through the air, this time for 15 yards. Flores finished off his superlative evening, going over for the two points (giving Raul 22 points on the night) to leave matters at 36-0.

Mystic finally gave the home fans something to cheer about on the ensuing kickoff, which saw the MV return man take the ball 80 yards into the CHS endzone.

In addition to the CHS offensive stars of the game mentioned above, Stellato also lauded the play of his entire offensive line, led by senior center David Roque and freshman offensive tackle Dennys Hernandez, senior offensive tackle Mark Beltran, sophomore offensive guard Jomael DeJesus, and sophomore offensive guard Francsico Mercedes.

On the other side of the pigskin, the coach mentioned the fine performances of Nelson Vega, who had six tackles on the night; senior linebacker Kevin Diaz; junior defensive tackle Quintavius Smith; and junior special teams player  Hugh Rodriguez, who had some hard hits.

Stellato and his crew will be seeking to make it two in a row tomorrow evening (Friday) at Northeast Regional. Kickoff time if at 6:00.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *