CHS Roundup
CHS girls complete undefeated season, win cross country title
The Chelsea High girls cross country team trekked to Danvers to take on undefeated Shawsheen Tech and undefeated Essex Tech last Wednesday in a showdown for the regular-season, dual-meet title of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference.
The Lady Red Devils’ top runner, Yarid Deras, won her sixth straight dual-meet competition, defeating her closest competitor by 20 seconds with a time of 21:16 over the 3.1 mile (5K) course.
Teammate Joselyn Poste was third overall in a strong time of 21:46. Amanda Dias was fifth in 22:15 and junior Cynthia Mancia ran her best race of the year, finishing just two seconds behind Dias to grab sixth place.
Sophomore Marissa Rivera turned in what CHS head coach Don Fay termed “an excellent race” to finish ninth overall to clinch the trio of triumphs over Shawsheen Tech, Essex Tech, and Lynn Tech in the quad-meet competition.
The trifecta gave the Lady Red Devils a final regular-season mark of 11-0, the CHS girls’ program’s best record ever and only their second dual-meet CAC title.
“We had four girls within 61 seconds of each other, which is great team racing,” said Fay. “Against the second-best school in the league, we had four girls in the top six against them. The team deserves this victory. They all have worked very hard this year to get to this point. “
The Lady Red Devils will attempt to become the first team in school history to win both the all-league meet and dual-meet title in the same year when they return to Danvers for the CAC championship race this Saturday.
CHS boys edged by Essex, Lynn
The Chelsea High boys cross country team came up just short against Commonwealth Athletic Conference rivals Shawsheen Tech and Essex Tech in a quad-meet held last week at the Essex Tech course in Danvers.
The Red Devils were narrowly edged by Shawsheen, 25-30, and by Essex, 27-32. However, Chelsea handily defeated Lynn Tech, thus ensuring that the Red Devils concluded a winning regular season with a 6-4 record.
“All of our losses this year have been by five points,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “This means that we have been competitive, but not quite good enough to win.”
Senior Jose Leclerc finished the regular season in undefeated fashion, running away from the large field to win the race by more than 50 seconds.
Alex Pedreo finished fifth overall, followed by sophomore Demetrius Martinez in eighth. However, after that there was more than a minute and a half before the next Chelsea runner came across the finish line, thus securing the victory for Shawsheen and Essex Tech.
“We have had some close losses, so we are hoping for some form of redemption on Saturday at the CAC league meet with a second chance at some of the teams that beat us earlier this year,” noted Fay.
Red Devil runners do well at relay meet
On Saturday at the John Kent relays at Greater Lowell, the team of Jose Leclerc, Alex Pedrero, and Demetrius Martinez were the winning high school boys team, running a time of 20:11 and beating host Greater Lowell by one second.
The girls finished second overall with the team consisting of Marissa Rivera, Karina Avalos, and Amanda Dias as anchor.
CHS boys soccer team claims CAC Large title
The Chelsea High boys soccer team — whose dominance in the past decade of the Large School Division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference under head coach Mick Milutinovic rivals that of the New England Patriots’ rule of the AFC East — added yet another CAC Large crown to its resume with victories over Greater Lowell and Greater Lawrence this past week.
The Red Devils, who were chasing Northeast Regional in the hunt for the CAC Large title for most of the season after Northeast defeated Chelsea in the second game of the year, finished their CAC schedule with a 9-2-2 mark, well ahead of runners-up Northeast and Lynn Tech.
In a 6-3 victory at Greater Lowell last week, the Red Devils were slow to recover from their long bus ride and spotted Greater Lowell a 1-0 lead within the first 30 seconds of the contest.
However, Chelsea soon shifted into gear. Jephte Marcellus potted a pair of goals at 7:00 and 9:00 to boost the Red Devils into a 2-1 advantage and they never looked back.
At the 12:00 minute mark, Delmer Romero made it 3-1 with an assist from Julio Caesar Lopez, a sophomore midfielder who has been improving each week. Julio also assisted on the next CHS marker, this one scored by senior captain Kevin Umanzor-Torres.
After Greater Lowell drew within 4-2, Marcellus doubled-up once again, scoring the next two Chelsea goals before the end of the half, giving the senior four goals on the day. and providing the Red Devils with an insurmountable 6-2 advantage at the intermission.
CHS keeper Bryan Armas was injured late in the contest when he was hit in the mouth, drawing blood and forcing him to withdraw. Angel Figueroa came on from his field position in the final 10 minutes to wrap up the victory.
In a 4-0 blanking of Greater Lawrence this past Tuesday, Marcellus maintained his scoring touch to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the contest.
Umanzor-Torres, who made a nice run from his defensive position in the CHS backfield, beat the GL keeper cleanly to make it 2-0 mid-way through the second half. Umanzor-Torres was assisted by freshman Ever Hernandez, who delivered a nice through-ball to Kevin in the penalty kick area.
Marcellus scored five minutes later and Romero applied the coup de grace five minutes after that for the 4-0 finale.
The Red Devils were set to play at non-league opponent Natick yesterday (Wednesday) and then will host Salem, another non-league foe, in the season finale Friday evening at 6:00 under the lights at Chelsea Stadium that will be highlighted by Senior Night festivities.
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins healing over time
Ah, the benefit of having a four-day layoff appears to be just what the Bruins needed following the injury to goaltender Tuukka Rask who suffered a concussion last Wednesday during practice after a collision with Anders Bjork. The bell-ringing contact in the crease left the Bruins ace seeing stars (not the Hollywood kind), flashing lights, a major sensitivity to light, and a messed up sleep schedule. There is hope that Rask who hit the Warrior Arena practice ice on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with Tuesday’s practice being a somewhat light drill for him, will meet the concussion protocol standards, and be game-ready tonight (Thursday) versus former Bruins Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks on TD Garden ice.
Missing the last two games versus Vancouver and Buffalo meant that backup goaltender Anton Khudobin would be needed to pick up the slack. While Boston picked up three of the available four points, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was not happy with the play of Khudobin against the Buffalo Sabres, as the home team allowed Buffalo to creep back into the game, twice surrendering three-goal leads, and eventually the Sabres stole the extra point with an overtime goal and a 5-4 loss. Cassidy pointed out his displeasure regarding AK’s performance against Buffalo with the way the goaltender played the puck, and especially his inability to direct the rebounds safely, not on the sticks of the Sabres.
While the injury list continues to expand, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Defenseman Kevan Miller’s upper-body injury appears to be healing properly as he has been able to perform full-tilt for the last few days. According to Cassidy, “He’s progressing well. He’s going in a good direction.” Translation: “He’s day-to-day.” David Krejci’s lack of attendance at practice earlier in the week, and also at today’s (Wednesday) practice also leaves him as ‘day-to-day and unlikely to play against the Sharks on Thursday. Krejci’s undisclosed injury kept him out of Saturday’s loss to the Sabres, and means more line shuffling to come. The loss of Adam McQuaid with a broken leg affects the blue line immensely, as the hole in the defense lineup meant the shuffling of some Providence replacements being thrust into the action, such as the season debut, blueline pairing of Rob O’Gara and Paul Postma.
With a tentative lineup available for Boston’s game on Thursday, the Bs will play two at home, following the Sharks with a Saturday (7:00pm) matchup as they take on the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Kings (7-1-1). Back on the road to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7:00pm), before returning to Garden ice to face the Vegas Golden Knights who have an impressive 7-1-0 record, on Thursday (11-2 at 7:00pm). Knights goaltender, former Bruin, Malcolm Subban has earned two wins (2-0) for the Knights, and his stat line is currently 2.06 Goals Against Average, and a Save Percentage of .936. The downside for the upstart Knights is both of their top goalies are out of action, Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) and Subban (lower body) have recently been placed on the Injured Reserve list. It is likely that Fleury will return in time to face the Bruins on November 2, while Subban will be out of the lineup at least another couple of weeks.
SHARPEN YOUR SKATES: ‘Boston Winter presented by Berkshire Bank’, a dazzling and eclectic open-air holiday festival, will return to City Hall Plaza on Friday, November 24. Last year, in its Boston debut, more than 300,000 locals and visitors alike came to experience the City’s newest holiday tradition at City Hall Plaza. Open to the public seven days a week, ‘Boston Winter will feature a mix of winter activities including a unique outdoor skating path and an expanded Holiday Shopping Market with an array of hospitality experiences and attractions.
The Skating Path will return in a reconfigured fashion for an entirely new experience. The outdoor Skating Path will remain open through February, offering learn-to-skate programs, and many special events. Visitors can rent skates or bring their own for Boston’s first-ever custom designed pathway that weaves around the marquee ‘Boston’ sign.
‘Boston Seasons’ is a three-year activation plan created by Boston Garden Development Corp and the City of Boston Property Management Department to revitalize the existing plaza at City Hall and create a vibrant welcome public space for all. Boston Garden Development Corp, a subsidiary of Delaware North is overseeing the efforts as the City’s selected vendor to enhance City Hall Plaza.