CHS boys soccer wins on Senior Night; awaits tourney news
The Chelsea High boys soccer team celebrated its Senior Night this past Friday evening in appropriate fashion with a 4-2 victory over Lynn English at Chelsea Stadium.
Prior to the contest, Red Devil members of the Class of 2025, Bryan Belloso, Esteban Calderon, Christian Flores, Steven Gamez, Christian Palacios, Edwin Rosales, and Daylin Yanes, were recognized for their contributions to the CHS soccer program.
As for the game itself, Joe Joj scored the hat trick to power the Red Devils to the victory. Jose scored the first two Chelsea goals, but the Bulldogs soon brought the game back to level at 2-2, with their second goal coming via a penalty kick early in the second half.
The Red Devils pulled ahead when Joao Pereira delivered a nice strike on a free kick. Though the English keeper made the tough save, Christian Palacios picked up the rebound and slotted the ball into the back of the Bulldog net to make it 3-2. Joj added an insurance goal on a breakaway late in the game for the 4-2 finale.
The victory lifted the Red Devils’ record to 8-7, which ranked them 31st in the MIAA Division 2 power ratings as of Tuesday morning. A team can qualify for the post-season state tourney either with a ranking among the top-32 teams or with a winning record.
However, two days later coach Mick Milutinovic’s squad came up short in a match with Somerville, 2-0. The Highlanders scored on a free kick late in the first half and then added a header off a corner kick in the final minutes to seal the win.
“The whole first half was back-and-forth action with both teams having many opportunities to score,” noted CHS assistant coach Willliam Estrada.
The loss dropped Chelsea’s record to 8-8 with one game left to play with Boston International yesterday (Wednesday), a contest that rates as a tough match given that BI is the #1-ranked team in Division 5 and last week defeated Everett (which topped Chelsea in both of their meetings this season) by a score of 3-0.
If the Red Devils qualify for the tourney, their final seeding and first-round opponent will be announced tomorrow (Friday). If Chelsea finishes in the top 32, they will host their first-round opponent at Chelsea Stadium.
CHS girls volleyball awaits tourney matchup
The Chelsea High girls volleyball team was awaiting the announcement of its opening round opponent in the upcoming Division 2 state volleyball tournament.
The seedlings and first-round matchups had been expected to be announced this past Tuesday, but a court case involving the eligibility of two school districts in Western Mass. has held up the MIAA’s ability to put together the tourney brackets and schedule. The MIAA was hopeful of being able to do so yesterday (Wednesday).
Although coach Gloria Rodriguez’s squad, which finished the year with an 11-9 record, came up short in its final two contests of the season with Lynn English (3-1) and Swampscott (3-2), a number of Lady Red Devils turned in strong performances.
Against Lynn English, Anais Artica led Chelsea with six service aces and five kills. In the Swampscott match, Thania Simon delivered a team-high nine kills and Hazel Martinez made a team-high nine digs.
Red Devils finish 5th at GBL Meet; Hatleberg GBL all-star
The Chelsea High boys cross country team finished in fifth place among the eight teams at Wednesday’s Greater Boston League Meet that was held at Torbert Macdonald Park along the banks of the Mystic River.
“We were hoping for a top-four finish, but that was made difficult as our top runner, Kyle Leong, was out due to illness,” noted CHS head coach Cesar Hernandez. “Overall, the boys did come to perform however, as everyone outside of two runners ran their fastest pace for the season.”
Sherwin Kim led the Red Devils, finishing 16th overall in a time of 15:59, which was more than a minute faster than he ran last year as a junior over the 2.75-mile course.
“On the girls’ side, we did not run enough girls to place in the meet, so we were looking for strong races to end the season,” said Hernandez. “Hazel Hatleberg was our top runner, earning a medal and GBL all-star status, placing seventh overall. Hazel ran 19:30, just over a minute faster than she ran on the course last year.”