Boys soccer will meet Woburn in state tourney opener
The Chelsea High boys soccer team will meet Woburn in the opening round of the MIAA Division 2 boys state soccer tournament.
Although the MIAA had not posted a location or date for the contest as of the Record’s press time yesterday afternoon, the Red Devils most likely will be traveling to Woburn for the contest.
Chelsea enters the tourney as the 36th seed with a 9-6-2 record, while Woburn is the 29th seed with a 3-9-2 mark. However, Woburn has a higher rating in the MIAA’s so-called power rankings, which accounts for its higher seed compared to Chelsea.
The winner will advance to the Round of 32 to meet fourth-ranked Westborough.
Coach Mick Milutinovic and his crew qualified for the tourney with a pair of victories in the final week of the season, defeating Greater Boston League rival Lynn Classical and non-league opponent Charlestown.
After a slow start in the Classical match, in which the Red Devils controlled the possession but were unable to find the back of the Rams’ net, the teams were deadlocked at nil-nil at the intermission.
However, the Chelsea offense soon shifted into high gear to start the second half. Kevin Garcia pinged a ball to Olvan Mendez, who was playing as a striker after playing at right back for most of the season. Olvan used his pace to get into the box and delivered a nice strike into the back of the Ram net for a 1-0 Chelsea lead.
That opened the floodgates for Chelsea, with Mendez scoring again soon thereafter to make it 2-0.
Minutes later, Cristian Najarro, who has been playing with the JV team for most of the season, upped the count to 3-0.
“Cristian will be going to the state tournament with us, so we wanted him to get him some playing time,” said CHS assistant coach William Estrada.
Wander De Pina closed out the CHS scoring when he put home a rebound to make it 4-0. Classical notched a consolation goal in the final five minutes for the 4-1 finale.
The victory clinched a berth in the state tourney for the Red Devils.
Chelsea played its final regular season tilt on Halloween and racked up a 5-0 triumph against non-league foe Charlestown on the Red Devils’ home turf.
After a scoreless duel through the first 25 minutes in which Chelsea failed to finish several chances, Ever Aguilar picked up the ball at midfield and sent a ball to Jefferson Ruiz down the left hand side. Jefferson delivered a perfect strike for the first goal of the game.
Henry Vazquez made it 2-0 before the half ended when he received a crossing pass and struck a nice shot on the half volley to beat the Charlestown keeper.
Despite the 2-0 lead, the Red Devils, who had controlled the game, came out of the intermission on a mission to give themselves some momentum heading into the tourney.
Ruiz upped the count to 3-0 just minutes into the second half when he tapped in a loose ball in the box and Najarro scored his second varsity goal midway through the half to make it 4-0.
De Pina applied the coup de grace when he received a switched ball, cut inside, and then beat the Charlestown keeper for the 5-0 finale.
“The boys were not happy at half time. They knew that they should have had more than two goals by then with how easily they controlled the game,” said Estrada. “They knew that they had to give it all for the last regular game of the season to go into the preliminary round in good form.”
Rodriguez is third at GBL Meet
Gizelle Rodriguez finished in third place at last week’s Greater Boston League Invitational to lead the Chelsea High girls cross country team to third place in the team standings.
Gizelle blazed the course at Torbert Macdonald Park in a time of 17:51, behind two girls from Medford (who came across in 17:06 and 17:21) among the 37 competitors in the girls’ race. Gizelle’s ranking in the top-10 earned her a medal and a place on the GBL all-star team.
Teammate Darily Sanchez just missed breaking into top-10 with her 11th place finish in a clocking of 19:54. Darily was followed by teammates Rosalinda Rojas (21st in 21:48), Reina Moreira (23rd in 22:06), and Holly Hatleberg (31st in 24:26) for coach Reegan von Wildenradt’s squad.
Somerville won the girls’ meet with 30 points, followed by Medford with 39 and Chelsea with 66.
CHS football team to host Boston English
The Chelsea High football team will swing into action Friday (tomorrow) evening when the Red Devils host Boston English in a non-playoff contest.
The opening kickoff is set for 6:00 under the lights at Chelsea Stadium.
CHS volleyball team begins tourney play
The Chelsea High girls volleyball team opened play in the Division 2 state tourney with a preliminary round contest at Mansfield yesterday (Wednesday) evening.
After a slow start to their 2022 campaign, coach Gabriel Morales and his squad completed a powerful second-half of the season to qualify for the tourney.
The Lady Red Devils compiled an 11-6 record and are ranked 42nd in the MIAA’s so-called power rankings. Mansfield is the 28th seed in the tourney with a 6-10 mark.
The winner of yesterday’s match will advance to the Round of 32 to take on number five seed Oliver Ames.
Flores paces Chelsea boys to 3rd place at GBL
Alex Flores grabbed 10th place at last Thursday’s Greater Boston League Invitational to lead the Chelsea High boys’ cross country team to a third-place finish in the overall team standings.
Alex turned in a time of 15:29 to earn a meet medal and a spot on the GBL all-star team, accolades that were awarded to the top-10 finishers among the field of 42 competitors.
Teammate Alejandro Zepeda was close behind, finishing in 12th spot in 16:01, and Nate Nadow crossed the line in 14th place with a clocking of 16:12.
Kyle Leong (25th place in 17:44) and Austin Freeman (32nd in 18:00) completed the Chelsea scoring.
Josue Hernandez (33rd place in 18:04) and Jose Amaya (36th in 18:24) also ran strong races for coach Reegan von Wildenradt’s Red Devils.
Somerville (which had four of the top-5 runners, all with times under 15 minutes) dominated the boys’ meet to win with 22 points, followed by Medford with 42 points, and then Chelsea with 87 points.
CHS girls soccer wins season-finale
The Chelsea High girls soccer team wrapped up its 2022 season on a positive note with a 4-0 victory over the Boston International School on Monday.
The Lady Red Devil offense was led by junior Alessandra Campos, who scored her fourth goal of the season, junior Keara Chavez Trejo, junior Stephanie Martinez, and senior Katie Arias, who converted a penalty kick.
Senior goalkeeper Katie Arias kept a clean sheet to earn the shutout.
“The team played very well,” said CHS head coach Randy Grajal. “The team demonstrated good passing and kept attacking the opposing team throughout the whole game. We had a few other opportunities we couldn’t score, but overall the team played very well as a unit.
“The whole team was ecstatic to finish our season on such a strong note and we are looking forward to building on this for the next season,” Grajal added.
In their contests from the previous week, the Chelsea squad played well in a 4-1 loss to Revere.
“It was a great effort by the team and a very nice goal scored by junior Alessandra Campos, assisted by Camila Rocha,” said Grajal.
Last Friday, the Lady Red Devils traveled to Dorchester and came up just short in a 2-1 loss to Burke High School. Alessandra Campos scored the CHS goal.
“Our senior captain and goalie, Katie Arias, was incredible in this game,” said Grajal. “She had many amazing saves to keep the team in the game. Sophomore Lauren Naedo kept the defense organized and demonstrated great leadership on the field. Overall the whole team played very well and our effort showed how we have continued to improve each week.”