Sports 09-24-2015

CHS Roundup

CHS football team hosts Greater Lowell Friday night

The Chelsea High football team will be seeking its first win of the season when the Red Devils entertain Commonwealth Athletic Conference rival Greater Lowell Friday evening under the lights at Chelsea Stadium. Kick-off time is 7:00.

Chelsea ventured out of the CAC to take on former long-time foe Revere, now of the Northeastern Conference, on the latter’s newly-renovated Harry Della Russo turf field last Friday evening. Although fans on both sides turned out in good numbers for a renewal of the rivalry — as they have for the basketball contests between the schools in recent years — the Battle of Broadway belonged to Revere from the outset.

The Patriots scored on a 56 yard run by their quarterback, Dan Murphy, on their first play from scrimmage and eventually built up a 41-0 lead after a kickoff return for a TD by Victor Rivera to start the second half. That proved to be the final score as the teams battled evenly the rest of the way.

“It was a tough ballgame for us,” said CHS head coach Jack Halas. “Revere played a very fine ballgame.  They dominated the first half of play, and played the remainder of the game with great class.”

Dashaun Alves turned in a strong defensive effort for the Red Devils, recording eight tackles, including one for a loss. Javier St. Leger played an all-around fine game, making four tackles and catching multiple balls at wide receiver.  Muktar Mohammed also contributed well for the Red Devils with three tackles, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble.

CHS boys soccer team wins two more

The Chelsea High boys soccer team won both of its contests this past week to improve to 5-0 at the quarter-point of the season.

Last Friday the Red Devils hosted Greater Lowell, one of their toughest Commonwealth Athletic Conference rivals in recent years, and prevailed by a 4-2 margin in a physical, hard-fought affair.

Carlos Cartagena gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when he scored on a breakaway after receiving a nice through-ball from Oscar Murillo. Ten minutes later, Carlos Cruz upped the Red Devil lead to 2-0 when he headed a corner kick by Kevin Umanzor-Torres to beat the Greater Lowell keeper.

However, Greater Lowell showed great resiliency and battled back after the intermission with a pair of markers, including a goal on a penalty kick, to level the score at 2-2 by the midpoint of the second half.

But then it was the Red Devils’ turn to demonstrate their own reserve of fortitude. Cartagena beat the GL keeper after receiving a nice pass inside the 18 at the 30-minute mark and five minutes after that, captain Yefferson Padilla provided an insurance goal with a beautiful strike with his left foot as he moved across the field from right to left and placed the ball into the right corner of the GL net.

“This was by far our best game of the year against our strongest opponent,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki. “Greater Lowell plays a physical style and is very athletic. They have a lot of returning players and kept their composure even after being down 2-0. They  kept coming at us. However, the coaching staff was very proud of our team’s effort when we bounced back from their PK and refused to let them seize the momentum.”

Anibal Sanchez and Francisco Vazquez were among the CHS players lauded by the coaches for stepping up to play a key role in the victory.

This past Tuesday, Coach Mick Milutinovic’s Red Devils hosted another CAC opponent from the north, Greater Lawrence, but enjoyed a bit of an easier time with an 8-1 triumph. Chelsea managed to take only a 1-0 lead into the intermission, thanks primarily to a defensive style of play by Gr. Lawrence that often resulted in eight GL players packing it into the box.

However, the Red Devils made some adjustments at the half and soon opened up a big lead. Cruz, assisted by Hector Andino, a defenseman who had pushed the ball from midfield to the GL end line and had made a nice crossing pass, scored the CHS goal in the first half and was among the goal scorers in the second half. Cartagena reached the back of the Greater Lawrence net three times and teammates Orlando Castillo, captain Wilber Alfaro-Castro, and Vazquez (his first varsity goal) added a goal apiece. Murillo, Vazquez, and Cartagena were credited with assists in the CHS onslaught.

The Red Devils will host Shawsheen Tech Friday and New Mission Monday. Both games will kick off at 4:00. They will travel to always-tough Northeast Regional Tuesday and trek to Whittier next Thursday.

Boys cross-country team defeats PMA

The Chelsea High boys cross-country team defeated Presentation of Mary Academy, 22-33, last week.

Red Devil Jose Aguiar finished first against PMA, running 22:06 over the 3.1 mile course.  Jonathan Gomez was third overall in 22:27. The third runner for Chelsea was Jose Cintron with a clocking of 23:52.  Diego Estrada was next for the Red Devils, running 24:08 and finishing in fifth place.  Adriel Cedano was the fifth runner for Chelsea in 26:43 and finished 11th overall.

“We were a little shorthanded and I am hoping by our next meet we will be back to full strength,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “We will be facing a strong Whittier team and a vastly-improved Lynn Tech team.  It will be on our home course so hopefully that will give us a small advantage.  We have been working hard and we are getting some good results from newcomer Jose Aguiar, who is very competitive and tough in practice.  I am hoping that his teammates see his work ethic and push each other harder in practice and challenge each other in the races.”

The tri-meet with Whittier and Tech was set for yesterday (Wednesday) . Fay and his crew will host another tri-meet on the course at Admiral’s Hill next Wednesday against Northeast Regional and Minuteman.

CHS girls split in tri-meet

The Chelsea High girls cross-country team split their tri-meet at Notre Dame Academy in Tyngsborough last Wednesday, defeating Presentation of Mary Academy, 22-39, but falling to defending league champion NDA, 20-39.

Wendy Becerra was the first Chelsea runner and was fifth overall, running a time of 26:16.  Finishing behind Becerra in sixth place was Clarissa Sosa in 26:42.  In eighth place overall and the third Chelsea runner was Melanie Nguyen with a clocking of 27:42.  Freshman Jocelyn Poste was next for the Lady Red Devils in 13th place in 30:13.  Newcomer Jennifer Navarro was the fifth runner for Chelsea, coming across the line in 32:15.

“Notre Dame’s course is very rugged and it was very hot and humid,” noted CHS head coach Don Fay. “Our top three runners ran well and were competitive with Notre Dame.  We have some young runners behind them who are working real hard to close that gap.”

The Lady Red Devils were set to host Whittier and Lynn Tech at Admirals Hill yesterday (Wednesday) and will host opponents Northeast Regional and Minuteman in another tri-meet this coming Wednesday.

Bruins Beat

by Bob Morello

Bruins showing signs of progress

Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals allowed the Bruins to run their preseason record to two victories in two games. With both teams scoring single third-period goals to put the game into overtime mode, it gave Boston fans a chance to see what the proposed overtime three-on-three setup will look like, and how fast it can end a contest. For the B’s, it took only 12 seconds for forward David Pastrnak to take the first and only shot of the overtime period to net the game-winner. Was this pre-season test of three-on-three a better idea than the shootout? I think so. For Pastrnak it was his second even-strength goal of the game, with center David Krejci doing the setup work on both goals, and defensemen Adam McQuaid and Torey Krug assisting respectively.

When asked his thoughts as to whether he would like to see more of the three-on-three overtime, Bruins head coach Claude Julien responded that, “Yeah, not really, I was okay with 12 seconds. I said there’s a good chance that those are going to end quickly because it doesn’t take much, one two-on-one, one bad pass behind the guy and he’s skating in the wrong direction, they pick it up and go the other way. It’s not going to take much, one bad line change; I mentioned that the other day. But what I liked was the way they scored that goal, it was great winning the face-off, and took just a couple passes, and the puck was in the net. So I was happy with that.”

Pastrnak had praise for Krejci who continues to make his wingers look good, “He’s a great passer, he made me turn for a one-timer and gave me a good saucer pass, to I had pretty easy work.” With a healthy Krejci this season, and the two players showing such good chemistry early in camp, it appears this might be a ‘marriage made in heaven’ for the duo.

Negatives from Boston’s second game had the team struggling with passing the puck, something coach Julien explained as, “That’s what training camp is all about. I talked about that, as far as creating scoring chances, if the passing’s a little bit better you can probably get some more scoring chances. But that’s what camp is for, to find that, I guess, those hands and find the, I guess, the timing of your passes and everything else. Its just part of those preseason games that we go through for that reason.”

Boston goaltenders did a respectable job in net, with Malcolm Subban stopping all 17 Capitals shots in just under 30-minutes, and Zane McIntyre posting the win by rejecting nine of the ten shots he faced.

Tonight (Thursday, 9/24), the Bruins at the Garden, will take on the New York Rangers in the first of a pair of home-and-home games, with the rematch to be played on Madison Square Garden ice on Wednesday, 9/30. Remaining on the Bruins’ pre-season schedule is a back-to-back matchup with the Detroit Red wings – Saturday’s contest will be hosted by the Red Wings on 9/26, before both teams return to Garden ice to complete the second half, Monday, 9/28.

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