Sports 09-28-2017

CHS Roundup

CHS boys soccer team earns win, tie

The Chelsea High boys soccer team earned a victory and a tie in its two contests this past week.

Senior Jephte Marcellus scored all three of the Red Devil goals in a 3-0 victory over Greater Lowell Tech Tuesday afternoon on the local field.

Jephte gave the Red Devils a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the contest when teammate Delmer Romero delivered a long through-ball to Marcellus, who was on the left wing. Jephte then used his speed to move past the GL defenders and break in on the keeper, striking the ball cleanly into the back of the GL net.

Marcellus scored his next two goals after the intermission at 56:00 and 59:00 on a pair of outstanding individual efforts. His second goal was a bullet from 25 yards out to the upper corner that even the tall GL keeper was unable to prevent from reaching the back of the net.

Marcellus notched the hat trick when he made some nifty moves to break past two GL defenders at the top of the box and deliver a perfect, low strike amidst traffic to the corner.

Freshman Andy Martinez almost made it a 4-0 contest when he made a nice run into the box and was taken down by a GL defender, resulting in the award of a penalty kick. However, the GL keeper made the save on Martinez’s PK.

Red Devil keeper Bryan Armas recorded the shutout. “Bryan played really well and made some nice saves,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki of the senior captain. “Bryan does a great job as a leader on the field for us, directing the younger members of our defense in their positioning and other aspects of the game.”

Last Thursday the Red Devils entertained Essex Tech, a Commonwealth Athletic Conference foe that has been making strides in the past few seasons, and battled to a 1-1 deadlock.

After a scoreless opening 40 minutes, Marcellus took advantage of a poor clearing  pass by an Essex defender, scooping up the loose ball and beating the Essex keeper. “That goal was all-hustle by Jephte,” noted Protasowicki.

However, five minutes later at the 70:00 minute mark, Essex took advantage of a Chelsea defensive miscue to bring the match back to level.

CHS head coach Mick Milutinovic and his crew have a big week ahead against some of their sternest CAC foes. The Red Devils will travel to Shawsheen today (Thursday), which always is a tough match on Shawsheen’s scrabbly grass field.

Next week they will host Mystic Valley, which presently in undefeated and in first place in the CAC’s Small Division, and on Thursday the Red Devils will host Northeast Regional, which is in first place in the CAC Large with a 5-0-2 mark.

Chelsea, which is in second place in the CAC Large with a 4-1-1 record, dropped the first encounter with Northeast earlier this season and will be seeking revenge as well as a path to first place in the CAC Large.

CHS cross country teams top Mystic Valley LeClerc sets boys’ mark

The Chelsea High boys and girls cross country teams hosted Mystic Valley for their first home meet of the year this past week at Admiral’s Hill.

On the boys’ side, the Red Devils handily raced to victory, 20-40, led by senior captain Jose Leclerc, who won the meet and established a new record of 18:02 for the 3.1 mile course.

“Jose looked good and he wasn’t even close to full throttle today,” said CHS head coach Don Fay of Leclerc, whose previous personal record (PR) was 18:16. ” I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran low seventeens on our course.”

Junior Wuilfido Hernandez was second overall, also running a PR of 19:05. First year runner Rafeal Castillo was fourth overall, just running under 20 minutes with a clocking of 19:55.

Alex Pedrero, Limilson Tavares, and Justin Turner finished sixth, seventh, and eighth to clinch the meet for the Red Devils, who now stand at 2-1 on the season.

The Red Devils were set to host Greater Lawrence yesterday (Wednesday). This Saturday the boys will be traveling to Wrentham for the Frank Kelley Invitational.

The Lady Red Devil runners battled fiercely in another close meet, prevailing by the narrow score of  26-29 in what also was their first home meet of the year.

Junior co-captain Yarid Deras was second overall, running 22:22 for the 3.1 miles. Co-captain Jocelyn Poste finished third with a huge PR that was almost one minute faster than her previous best.

Junior Amanda Dias, competing in her first cross country race, was fifth overall, running 23:30. Cynthia Mancia, who also was competing in her first cross country meet, came across the line in 25:03 and finished seventh.  Freshman Kathy Arias sealed the meet for the Lady Red Devils, finishing in ninth place.  Also running well was sophomore Karina Avalos, who bettered her PR by almost two and a half minutes.

The girls, who improved to 3-0, were scheduled to entertain Greater Lawrence and defending league champion Notre Dame of Tyngsborough yesterday (Wednesday) in a tri-meet.  The Lady Red Devils also will trek to Wrentham on Saturday to take part in the Frank Kelley Invitational.

CHS football hosts Greater Lowell Friday

The Chelsea High football team will entertain Greater Lowell tomorrow (Friday) evening under the lights at Chelsea Stadium. Kick-off is set for 7:00.

The Red Devils dropped a 28-18 decision this past week to Whittier.

Bruins Beat

by Bob Morello

Bruins cut to the chase

Just under a week left before the Bruins drop the puck to start the 2017-18 regular season against the Nashville Predators (Thursday, October 5) on TD Garden ice. The pre-season schedule has two road games, tonight (Thursday 7:00pm) the Philadelphia Flyers will host the Bruins at Wells Fargo Center, and the finale will take place at Chicago’s United Center, as both the Blackhawks and the Flyers aim for revenge following losses to Boston in their initial pre-season meetings.

Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney has been a busy man with moving and signing the players remaining in training camp. Among those leaving Warrior ice are, forward Ryan Fitzgerald and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, both moved to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. The Bruins have also placed Tommy Cross and Jordan Szwarz on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to Providence. Cross was Providence’s captain last year, and Szwarz led the AHL team in scoring with 22 goals and 32 assists for 54 points.

On the plus side, Sweeney has signed forward Jack Studnicka to a three-year entry-level contract. The Tecumseh, Ontario native was originally selected by Boston in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Studnicka joined the Bruins for their 2017 Rookie Camp, earning points in all three games at the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, NY, including a one-goal, two-assist effort in the team’s 9-3 win over New Jersey. Studnicka also participated in the 2017 Boston Bruins Training Camp, making his preseason debut in the team’s opener against the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City on September 18, before being returned to Oshawa on September 21.

Studnicka, 18, currently serves as captain of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and has appeared in two games this season, posting two goals and three assists for five points with a plus-two rating. The 6-foot-1, 171-pound forward finished the 2016-17 season tied for second on the team in points after tallying 18 goals and 34 assists in 64 games for Oshawa. He also led the team in postseason scoring, notching five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 11 playoff games. Studnicka skated in 62 games in his first season with Oshawa in 2015-16, recording four goals and 22 assists for 26 points. On the international stage, Studnicka represented Team Canada at the 2017 Under-18 World Junior Championships in Slovakia, where he tallied three goals in three games.

An additional plus has been the strong play of 21-year-old Anders Bjork who has impressed during his time during training camp on the Patrice Bergeron/Brad Marchand line. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy emphasized the youngster’s performance, exclaiming that he believes Bjork certainly looks like he belongs here, an indication that he may, in the minds of management be a ‘keeper,’ and make the jump to the NHL following trining camp and pre-season play. Bjork’s speed, skill and fearless play against Chicago, was rewarded when he was able to deposit a pass served up nicely by Bergeron, behind Blackhawks netminder, Corey Crawford, for his second pre-season goal. Last season Bjork put up a solid season, with 21 goals and 31 assists to post 52 points in just 29 games.

Despite Boston’s former first-round selection, Malcolm Subban’s performance in net for the Bs 4-2 win over Chicago earlier in the week, it appears that the backup spot will remain in the hands of Anton Khudobin. Coach Cassidy is expected to start Tuukka Rask in tonight’s (Thursday) Flyers’ game, with Khudobin to be named the starting netminder for the Blackhawks finale on Saturday, with a puck drop of 8:30pm.

“Let the games begin!”

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