CHS Roundup
CHS boys soccer drops 2-1 heartbreaker to Boston Latin in tourney
The Chelsea High boys soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision in as excruciating a fashion as possible in the first round of the Division 1 North Sectional of the MIAA State Soccer Tournament this past Saturday evening under the lights at Chelsea Stadium.
After spotting Latin a 1-0 lead in the first 15 minutes, the Red Devils, who entered the contest as the No. 7 seed in the D-1 North, settled down and soon came to control the play for most of the remainder of the contest.
However, it would not be until there were seven minutes left to play that Chelsea would bring the score back to level when Red Devil senior Jephte Marcellus found the back of the Latin net. Fellow senior Kevin Vasquez set up the goal with a superb crossing pass from his defensive position into the top of the box, where Marcellus settled the ball and drilled a powerful shot past the Latin keeper.
The teams then battled fiercely for the remainder of regulation and through both of the 10-minute overtime periods. After a total of 100 minutes of play, the contest came down to penalty kicks, with each side getting five.
Chelsea went first and the teams alternated, with the first four attempts by both teams finding the back of the net. However, the Latin keeper guessed correctly on Chelsea’s fifth shot, making the save, and the fifth Latin shooter made good on his attempt to end the game.
“This by far was our best game of the season,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki of the Red Devils, whose last regular-season contest was a 5-0 rout of a tourney-qualifying Salem squad. “We had an early case of the jitters, but then played our style of ball and controlled the tempo. We were sharp at both ends of the field. It was just a tough way to lose.”
Milutinovic Coach of Year; Umanzor-Torres league MVP; four others named all-stars
Post-season accolades poured in for the Chelsea High boys soccer team at the meeting of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference coaches this past week.
Long-time CHS head coach Mick Milutinovic, who guided a young Red Devil squad to a CAC Large Division title after a slow start, was named the CAC Large’s Coach of the Year.
Red Devil senior captain Kevin Umanzo-Torres was named the Most Valuable Player of the CAC Large. Fellow captain Bryan Armas, the CHS keeper, and teammates Jephte Marcellus, Carlos Arevalo-Garcia, and Delmer Romero were named all-stars.
High finish for CHS star LeClerc in coaches’ meet
Last Saturday the CHS boys and girls cross-country teams traveled to Wrentham for the Frank Mooney State Coaches Invitational.
The Red Devils were led by senior captain Jose Leclerc who ran a personal best of 16:38 for the 3.1 mile course and was sixth out of 529 runners. Jose earned a medal for his extraordinary performance.
“Jose ran a smart race and moved up as the race wore on,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “This Saturday is the Eastern Massachusetts Division 2 championship, and Jose has a very good chance of qualifying for all-states, which is the top seven individuals who are not on an all-state qualifying team.”
Also running well for Chelsea were junior Justin Turner, who ran a 66-second personal record (PR) of 18:44. Yosef Rubin ran 18:57, which was a PR by 14 seconds.
Jazmany Reyes had a PR by 38 seconds, running 18:58. Limilson Tavares and Ronny Gomez each ran PR times, 19:07 and 19:08 respectively.
“We could have all of our top seven this week break 19:00, which has never happened before,” said Fay. “We have a lot of depth and one of the better runners in the state this year.”
For the Lady Red Devils, Yarid Deras medaled (top 50) with a 44th place performance among the 327 girls who were on the starting line. Yarid’s time of 21:24 was her second-best clocking on the Wrentham course.
Jocelyn Poste broke 22 minutes for the first time (21:58) and finished 65th. Amanda Dias finished in 106th place in 22:33 and Cynthia Mancia came across in 120th position.
Both the girls and boys teams will be returning Saturday to the state training facility in Wrentham to compete in the Division 2 Eastern Mass. championship race.
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins fighting the injuries
The month of November has started out pretty well for the Bruins, that is, when one considers the current extensive injury list of Boston. At press time the team had listed: Brad Marchand (upper body), Anton Khudobin (lower body), David Krejci (upper body), Ryan Spooner (abductor tear), Noel Acciari (fractured finger), David Backes (colon surgery), and Adam McQuaid (lower body). With a M.A.S.H.-like roster it is surprising that the Bs have been able to put up numbers that reflect their competitiveness and team depth. Coming into last night’s matchup with the New York Rangers, their stats show that with 13 games played, they are just three points behind second-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division, with three games in hand, and five points behind second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference with Boston holding four games in hand.
On the Bruins’ radar, following their trip to New York, will be a home-and-home series with Toronto this weekend. Friday (7 p.m.) the Leafs will host Boston, and the team returns home to Garden ice for the back end on Saturday. A good chance for the locals to move up the standings, both in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Their schedule has the Bs right back on the road for a three-game road trip to the West Coast, that will have them visiting the Anaheim Ducks (Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 10 p.m.), the Los Angeles Kings (Thursday, Nov. 16 at 10:30 p.m.), and end their trip to the West with the San Jose Sharks (Saturday, Nov. 18 at 10:30 p.m.), before returning to the East Coast to be hosted by the New Jersey Devils (Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.).
Boston’s upcoming five-game schedule will have a huge impact on the team’s standings, and gives them a chance to recover their position, with many of the injured hopefully ready to return to the lineup. The return of Marchand was not expected for last night’s game with the Rangers, but he will likely be a game-day decision for both the Friday and Saturday Toronto games this weekend. Krejci has found his way to practice ice earlier this week, but is not penciled in for any of this week’s games. In goal last night (Wednesday) versus the Rangers, Khudobin was expected to be backing up Tuukka Rask, and if he continues to progress, he should be getting a start for Boston in the Toronto home-and-home series, Friday or Saturday. Noel Acciari is also expected to return for the Toronto series.
If there is a silver lining to the Bruins’ extensive injury report, it would be the fact that Boston has had an ample amount of time to test several of their youngsters toiling for the Providence Bruins. Several Baby B’s players have had impressive showings, and all have definitely enjoyed their stay with the big club, using the opportunity to show their NHL ability. It certainly has given the Bruins the potential of a ‘bright future!’