CHS Roundup
CHS boys win CAC
title; Turner is champion;
Deras finishes 2nd for girls
The Chelsea High boys cross country team, led by Justin Turner, won the Commonwealth Athletic Conference championship this past Saturday on a cold and rainy morning at Greater Lowell.
The triumph marked the Red Devils’ first CAC Large School meet title since 1999. (Chelsea was the CAC Small School champ in 1999.) Turner’s victory, in which he outran the field over the 3.1 mile (5K) course with a clocking of 17:48, marked the second straight year that a CHS boy has won the league crown.
Turner ran a smart and gutsy race in which he outkicked Ryan Smith of Shawsheen (who had been undefeated in the league this year) in the last 100 meters to secure the victory and claimed the title as the league’s MVP.
Last year, Smith finished behind Jose Leclerc of Chelsea (who is in his freshman year at UMass Dartmouth and running cross country for the Corsairs) and had beaten Turner when Chelsea met Shawsheen just last week.
“It appeared as though Justin was going to settle for second again, but he dug down deep and overtook him in the final seconds,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “There were thee boys in this race who had beaten Justin in the regular season, but he ran his best race of the year on Saturday to defeat them all.”
CHS senior co-captain Julio Valladares finished fourth in a time of 18:40 and earned all-star status. Junior Jazmany Reyes was the next finisher in the race, five seconds behind Valladares in a time of 18:45. Reyes’s fifth place also earned him all-star status.
“At this point we were in great shape,” said Fay. “We just had to get our fourth and fifth runners in as quickly as possible to hold off Greater Lowell and Essex Tech.”
Coming through in a big way for the Red Devils to clinch the victory were senior Wuilfido Hernandez, who finished 17th in a time of 19:50, and sophomore Oscar Amaya, who was two places back in 19th with a clocking of 20:05.
After the dust — actually, the mud — had settled, the Red Devils had 46 points to Greater Lawrence’s 53, while Essex Tech had 58 points, the only two teams that had defeated Chelsea during the dual-meet season.
“We lost to Essex Tech by a point 10 days ago and were beaten 23-34 by Greater Lawrence in late September,” said Fay. “This is a very hard-working team and a mentally-tough team. We persevered this whole season, dealing with illnesses and injuries and came together when it mattered most.
“All in all, It was a tremendous day for the Chelsea boys program,” said the coach.
On the girls’ side, senior co-captain Yarid Deras locked up with Mystic Valley’s Shannon Brady in an epic race. Deras was the league champion and MVP two years ago and Brady was the defending champion and reigning MVP.
“They ran basically side-by-side until the last quarter mile of the race, where Brady pulled ahead and held on for a four second victory, 22:33 to 22:37.” said Fay. “I know Yarid was very disappointed in the outcome, but she gave everything she had and just came up a little short. She still claimed the large school individual championship. She has dominated the last three years in the CAC and should be very proud of her accomplishments, her leadership and her work ethic.”
First-year runner Saira Carrento was just 13 seconds off all-star status, running 24:28 for ninth place. Junior Karina Avalos ran a strong race to finish 17th in a time of 25:21.
Senior Nicole Torres ran her best race of the year, finishing in 26:57, for 32nd place. Her sister, Yarelis, was 33rd in 27:08. Sophomore Percy Melgar was 37th in a time of 28:33.
The CHS girls finished third in the large school division behind Essex Tech and Shawsheen Tech, who had defeated Chelsea last week.
“The last three years for the boys and girls cross country team have been very successful, noted Fay. “We have had the first-ever girls’ league champion, Yarid Deras, in 2016. Last year for the first time the girls won the dual meet and league meet title in the same year.
“For the boys, Jose Leclerc was undefeated in every CAC meet last year and this year the boys were large school champions for the first time in almost two decades,” Fay added, “and Justin Turner went from winning the junior varsity race as a junior to becoming league champion the next year as a senior.”
Next up for both squads is the Frank Mooney State Coaches Invitational this Saturday at Wrentham, followed by the State Meet the week after.
CHS boys soccer
completes undefeated
season, heads for
state tournament
The Chelsea High boys soccer team completed an undefeated season with a 6-1 victory over Greater Lawrence this past Monday.
The victory was a fitting celebration of Senior Day festivities in which the Red Devil seniors, Diego Granados, Victor Guzman, Roberto Portillo, Brainer Padilla, Carlos Ayala, Jose Gutierrez, and Gabriel Contreras, were honored for their contributions to the CHS soccer program.
All of the seniors were on the field for the opening kickoff as Chelsea sprinted to a 5-1 lead in the first half. Padilla, Ayala, and Contreras scored goals for Chelsea, as did Guterriez in the second half.
Junior Carlos Lopez also scored two goals for the Red Devils, both in the first half.
The Red Devils had preserved their unbeaten record on Friday with a 1-1 tie with archival Everett on the turf at Highland Park before the biggest and most vocal crowd of the season.
The Crimson Tide grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the first half, but Chelsea brought matters back to level with 20 minutes left in the game when Delmer Romero converted a penalty kick. The PK had been awarded to Chelsea because of a hand ball by an Everett player in the box.
“This was a very intense, hard-fought game,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki. “Many of the players know each other from their club teams and other associations, but once they get on the field, it becomes very physical. With the big crowd and the physicality, the game had the atmosphere of a playoff match.”
Indeed, Chelsea and Everett just might meet in the upcoming state tourney. Both teams are in the Division 1 North Sectional. Coach Mick Milutinovic’s Red Devils, who finished with a 13-0-3 record, will be one of the top seeds, while Everett, which completed a 6-6-6 campaign, will be one of the bottom seeds.
The announcement from the MIAA of the seedings and first-round pairings was expected yesterday (Wednesday), with the first-round matches expected to get underway as soon as Friday.
CHS volleyball ends
season on winning note
The Chelsea High volleyball team completed its season on a winning note with a 3-1 victory over Fellowship Christian Academy, 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19, this past Tuesday.
Leading the way in the stats columns for coach Serena Wadsworth’s Lady Red Devils were:
Capt. Jessica Martinez – 12 aces, 16 assists, 3 kills
Capt. Masireh Ceesay – 6 kills, 7 aces
Iveth Rodriguez – 3 aces
Briana Maldonado – 3 kills, 5 aces
Kerstin Sabillion – 1 kill
Ana Severino – 3 kills, 2 blocks
Capt. Carolina Moraes – 1 kill
Deanna Christmas – 5 kills
Elizabeth Del Rosario – 1 kill
Last week in a 3-1 Chelsea loss to Whittier Tech, the top performers for Chelsea were:
Capt. Jessica Martinez – 2 aces, 17 assists, 1 kill, 1 dig
Capt. Masireh Ceesay – 4 kills, 3 aces, 1 dig
Iveth Rodriguez – 7 aces, 4 kills, 1 dig
Briana Maldonado – 4 kills, 1 block, 1 dig
Kerstin Sabillion – 2 kills, 1 ace, 1 block
Ana Severino – 3 kills, 4 blocks
Capt. Carolina Moraes – 1 kill, 1 dig
Alex Arroyo – 2 aces
The Lady Red Devils also came out on the short end of a hard-fought, 3-2 decision to Presentation of Mary Academy, 25-21, 25-22, 14-25, 18-25, 13-15.
Leaders for Chelsea were:
Capt. Jessica Martinez – 3 aces, 21 assists, 3 digs
Capt. Masireh Ceesay – 7 kills, 1 aces, 1 dig
Iveth Rodriguez – 2 aces, 5 kills, 3 digs
Briana Maldonado – 2 kills, 1 block, 1 dig, 6 aces
Ana Severino – 7 kills, 4 blocks
Capt. Carolina Moraes – 1 dig
Alex Arroyo – 4 aces
Deanna Christmas – 3 kills, 2 aces, 1 block
In a 3-1 loss to Northeast Regional on October 19, the stats leaders for Chelsea were:
Capt. Jessica Martinez – 1 ace, 8 assists
Capt. Masireh Ceesay – 2 kills, 2 aces, 1 dig
Iveth Rodriguez – 4 aces, 3 kills
Briana Maldonado – 4 kills, 1 ace
Ana Severino – 7 kills, 1 block
Capt. Carolina Moraes – 1 ace, 2 digs
Alex Arroyo – 6 aces
Deanna Christmas – 3 kills, 1 block
Elizabeth Del Rosario – 1 kill
CHS football seeks
first win this week
The Chelsea High football team dropped a 34-0 decision to Manchester-Essex last Thursday.
“With a short week of practice we couldn’t prepare ourselves the way we wanted,” said CHS head coach Rasi Chau. “But we can’t make any excuses.”
The Red Devils were scheduled to face Cathedral High this week.
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins wind down road trip
Tuesday night the Bruins took on the much-improved Carolina Hurricanes, a team that plays with speed and tenacity, but the Bs were able to weather the storm and leave the ice with a 3-2 victory. Brad Marchand finally showed some of the scoring touch that allowed him to score 34 goals last season, as he doubled his goal output of two coming into the Hurricane’s contest. A two-goal effort late in the game by Marchand turned out to be just what Boston needed to secure the victory. Plus, the winning goal was a nice highlight move with a wraparound goal to give the Bruins a lead they would not relinquish. David Pasternak added to his goal output, depositing goal number 11 of this season, behind Carolina goaltender Scott Darling to tie the game at 1-1 in the middle of the second period. Patrice Bergeron did his share by assisting on all three goals to raise Boston’s record to 7-3-2. Carolina forward Sebastian Aho tied an NHL record by earning at least one assist in a dozen straight games, tying Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton 1982-83) and Boston’s Ken Linseman (1985-86).
Jaroslav Halak continues to perform in outstanding fashion by stopping 42 shots, bringing his record to 4-0-2, with a goals-against-average of 1.52, and a very solid .947 save percentage. His play has been effective as his two shutouts prove, and it should be a no-brainer that he should be coach Bruce Cassidy’s choice in net for Saturday’s encounter with the Nashville Predators (8:00pm). Tuukka Rask is still struggling with 3-3-0 totals, including an unimpressive 3.15 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of .902. A no-brainer to be sure, but still a decision that only Cassidy will make Saturday. Cassidy made some bold moves versus Carolina to shake things up in the second period, at one point reducing his bench, breaking up his first line, moving Pastrnak to the second line with David Krejci and Danton Heinen, which proved to be successful, and giving Jake DeBrusk a chance on the first line, before again letting everyone play in the third period.
Boston’s defense finally gained the services of defenseman Torey Krug in Carolina, for the first time in over six months and Krug submitted a very respectable performance, especially while quarterbacking the Bs power play. On the downside, the Boston blue line is still decimated with defenseman Charlie McAvoy placed on Injured Reserve with no timetable given for his return, and line mates Kevan Miller, Urho Vaakanainen and Matt Grzelcyk all remain questionable. Up front, forward David Backes appears to be close to returning from his concussion symptoms and will likely be in the lineup Saturday in Nashville.
Monday’s contest with the Dallas Stars (11/5 at 7:00pm) will mark the Bruins return to TD Garden ice, and the start of a four-games in 7 days homestand – Vancouver Canucks (Thursday 11/8 at 7:00pm)), Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday 11/10 at 7:00pm), and Vegas Golden Knights (Sunday 11/11 at 7:00pm).