The Chelsea High girls soccer team ended its season on an upbeat note with victories in the final two games of the year this past week.
Coach Jen Gulko’s squad defeated Lynn Tech 2-1 on Monday with goals scored by Quinnee Valenzona (assisted by Sarah Bourouis) and Zuleima Castillo (her first goal for the season).
“The girls played a fantastic game and showed how much they’ve improved over the past season,” said Gulko of the victory. “Some of our new players really stepped up and played well, and showed their significant improvement in their first season.”
Unfortunately, Lady Red Devil captain Elsa Nunez suffered a serious blow to the head in the contest and thus was unable to play in the last game of the season, which was a well-fought 1-0 win against Mystic Valley.
“Last year, we ended the season with a 0-0 tie against Mystic so it was great to end this year with a win,” noted Gulko. Senior Zehra Mirzai saved a goal by stopping the ball as it was going into the net which would have tied the game. “That was a fantastic last game for Zehra to end her career with CHS,” said Gulko.
The two wins moved the Lady Red Devils into second place in the CAC Small Division for the first time (the last two years the Chelsea girls finished in third place) with an overall record of 3-6-5, which left them shy by just one point from making it to the state tournament for the first time.
Four Lady Red Devils were chosen for the CAC all star team: Zuleima Castillo (junior, defense), Loren Ramos (junior, midfield), Elsa Nu§ez, (junior, defense, captain) and Gabby Salazar (sophomore, goal keeper).
Loren Ramos and Elsa Nu§ez were chosen to be captains for the 2011 season and Zuleima Castillo was voted MVP for this season by her teammates.
“Coach Amy Loomis and I are incredibly proud of these girls and the progress they made this year,” added Gulko. “They not only improved their soccer skills, but they really came together as a team. All of the girls work hard both physically and academically (they attend mandatory after school tutoring every day before practice if they have any grades lower than a C). We are only losing one senior, so the girls are going to continue to work out together in the off season and in the summer. We have a fantastic shot at going to the tournament next year.”