CHS Roundup
CHS girls achieve a first: capture CAC dual-meet and league-meet titles
The 2017 Chelsea High girls cross-country team became the first-ever Lady Red Devil squad to win both the regular-season and league-meet championships when they defeated all of their Commonwealth Athletic Conference foes in Saturday’s CAC League Meet held at the Essex Tech course in Danvers.
Chelsea, which finished its dual-meet season with a perfect 11-0 record, took the first three places, led by Amanda Dias, who was followed closely by teammates Yarid Deras and Jocelyn Poste.
Shawsheen Tech runners then came across the line in places five, six, and seven, followed by Lady Red Devil Cynthia Mancina in eighth position. After Shawsheen girls grabbed the ninth and 12th places to conclude their scoring with 39 points. Chelsea clinched the race when Karina Avalos came home in 16th place, providing the Lady Red Devils with a victory by a nine-point margin.
Also running well for Chelsea were Marissa Rivera in 20th place, Carla Romero in 24th, and Stephanie Rodriguez in 25th.
“This was a great day for the girls,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “They had a lot of pressure on them today and came through tremendously Four of our girls received All-Conference accolades, Amanda, Yarid, Jocelyn, and Cynthia, for finishing in the top-10 in the meet.
“They should be very proud of themselves for how they performed,” Fay added. “The good news is that our top six are all returning next year.”
LeClerc wins CAC Meet; CHS boys finish close second
The Chelsea High boys cross country team turned in a superlative effort to finish in second place in Saturday’s Commonwealth Athletic Conference League Meet.
Red Devil Jose LeClerc blazed over the 3.1 mile (5K) course in 16:53 to outdistance the field. Jose thus finished the season in undefeated fashion among CAC competition and earned the MVP Award for his first-place effort at the league meet.
Senior captain Alex Pedrero also received all-conference accolades for finishing in eighth place, running 18:20. Demetrius Martinez came home in 12th place, only three seconds from earning all-conference honors for a top-10 finish. Wuilfido Hernandez was 17th and Joseph Ruben was 20th for the Red Devils, who finished the meet with 58 points, second only to regular-season champion Whittier Tech with 51 points.
“The boys finished the dual season at 6-4, but all of their losses were very close,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “So the thinking coming into the meet was that second place would constitute a successful meet for us.
“This was the best meet the boys ran collectively as a team,” continued Fay. “In all of the losses, they never quite ran up to their capability, but they showed how well they can really run as a team. The good news also is that eight of our top 11 will be back next year.”
The junior varsity meet was run before the varsity meet, and Red Devil Justin Turner ran his best race of the year, clocking an 18:39 performance, to win the race handily. Teammate Jazmany Reyes was second in the JV race with a time of 19:28.
This Saturday both the boys and girls will be running at the State Coaches Invitational in Wrentham.
CHS boys soccer tops Salem in finale
The Chelsea High boys soccer team celebrated Senior Night in fitting fashion with a 5-0 victory over Salem Friday evening.
Nine members of the CHS Class of 2018 were honored before the game, with each player called out individually onto the field, where they were presented with a flower bouquet to give to their parents: captain Kevin Umanzor-Torres, captain Bryan Armas, Kevin Valle, Jephte Marcellus, Angel Molina-Figueroa, Carlos Garcia-Arrevalo, Kevin Vasquez, Sergio Lopez, and Gabriel Contreras-Medina.
With all of the seniors in the starting lineup, the Red Devils got off to a fast start against the visiting Witches, a non-league foe that plays in the Northeastern Conference and that is a Division 2 school.
Kevin Valle put Chelsea on the board at 9:00 with a nice volley from 12 yards out and six minutes later, Marcellus reached the back of the Salem net to make it 2-0.
A goal by sophomore Delmer Romero at 29:00 made for a comfortable 3-0 CHS lead after the first 40:00 of play.
Molina-Figueroa scored 9:00 after the intermission and sophomore Suman Lepcha applied the icing onto the Chelsea victory cake five minutes later at 54:00 for the 5-0 finale.
“This was the most-solid game we’ve played all season,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki. “Salem is a good, D-2 team, so it was excellent preparation for us as we enter the tourney.”
Coach Mick Milutinovic and his squad, who punched their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney earlier in the season, now will await word of their seeding and first-round opponent in the D-2 North sectional of the MIAA state tournament.
Chelsea, the champion of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference’s Large School Division, finished the year with an overall record of 10-3-2, which should be good enough to earn the Red Devils a home game in the opening round.
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins opponents struggling
The Bruins returned to the hopefully comfortable pleasant confines of TD Garden ice tonight (Thursday at 7:00pm), as they prepare to take on the Vegas Golden Knights. The VGK are the 31st team in the NHL, but their inaugural season has been successful to start, as they are boasting a record of 8-3 to this point. Tonight (Thursday), the Bruins might be facing the Knights’ fourth-string goalie in rookie Maxime Legace, as the injury bug has hit them hard and often in the net. The goaltending position has been vacated by the losses of Marc Andre-Fleury (concussion), former Bruin Malcolm Subban (lower-body injury), and the team’s latest injury took out third-string goaltender Oscar Dansk (lower-body injury. Could be a very interesting (k)night for the Bruins.
Boston will host the Washington Capitals in game two (Saturday 11/4 at 7:00pm) of their current three-game homestand. The Caps are struggling lately with a 3-6-1 record over their last 10 games, presently leaving them in the sixth spot of the Metropolitan Division. The month of October ended with Washington earning a 5-6-1 record, and a below .500 average in points percentage, something that has not happened to them since 2014, as their record with Adam Oates behind the bench was a sad 4-7-4.
The Bs will end their homestand on Monday, (11/6 at 7:00pm) hosting the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have also been struggling, with a last-ten record of 4-4-2, earning them last place in the Central Division. When you add it all up, the Bruins are in a good position to capitalize on the current bad fortunes of the three teams it will face during this homestand, and post some much needed points. This all comes at a time when Boston, also plagued with injuries to several key players. Second-line center David Krejci appears to be lost for more than just the day-to-day status he was recently listed at, defenseman Adam McQuaid still in the healing process of a broken fibula, forward Ryan Spooner on the Injured Reserve list with a nagging groin injury, and backup goaltender Anton Khudobin still not 100%, with a lower back injury. At press time on Wednesday, the Bruins issued an injury update, announcing the forward David Backes will undergo surgery on Thursday (today), to remove a portion of his colon due to diverticulitis. The expected recovery time is approximately 8 weeks. Also announced was the recall of goaltender Zane McIntyre and forward Jordan Swarz from Providence Bruins by General Manager Don Sweeney on an emergency basis.
Boston will hit the road again on Wednesday to take on the New York Rangers. Once again a team in flux, as their last ten games at press time produced a record of 3-5-2, at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, Those four games will certainly give the Bs a chance to get back on their feet, but the realization is still the same, “any team can win on any given day!”
BRUINS TO HOST SEVENTH ANNUAL BRUINS ACADEMY COACHING SYMPOSIUM: The Boston Bruins announced will be hosting their seventh annual Bruins Academy Coaching Symposium in partnership with Massachusetts Hockey, this Saturday, November 4 at Warrior Ice Arena (90 Guest Street, Brighton, MA). The event will start at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast, followed by a panel of speakers, including members of the Boston Bruins Coaching Staff, who will share their expertise with coaches from throughout New England starting at 8:30 a.m.
Members of the Boston Bruins Coaching Staff, including Head Coach Bruce Cassidy will offer the coaches in attendance their professional insight on various topics.
Additional guest speakers will include members of USA Hockey including American Development Model (ADM) Regional Manager Roger Grillo, Director of Youth Hockey Kevin McLaughlin, Goaltending ADM Manager Phil Osaer, Director of Coaching Education Mark Tabrum, and Female Hockey ADM Manager Emily West.
The group will break at 11:00 a.m. to watch the Bruins morning skate. Following the morning skate, the symposium will continue with breakout sessions hosted by USA Hockey. Coaches in attendance will also have the opportunity to receive their USA Hockey CEP Level 2 or 3 Coaching Certification. The Symposium is free for coaches to attend. To register please visit www.bostonbruins.com/coachingsymposium.