CHS Football Team Opens at Shawsheen
The Chelsea High football team will kick off its 2019 season this weekend when the the Red Devils make the long journey to Billerica to meet Shawsheen Teach.
The contest has been scheduled for Friday evening, but school officials still are determining whether to move the encounter to Saturday afternoon because of the EEE virus.
“So far, so good,” said CHS head coach Rasi Chau of his team’s preparedness for their season-opener. “We are getting better every day at practice. The team is buying into, and believing in, our system. They’re excited as much as we are for the season opener.”
Shawsheen will prove to be a formidable opponent, according to Chau.
“Shawsheen is a tough team,” said Chau. “They are well-coached by coach Constable and his staff and will be a tough test for us.
“Having a ‘bye’ week last week helped us get an extra week of practice in,” Chau added. “Our staff has been studying their films and dissecting their weaknesses.”
After the Shawsheen game, the Red Devils will host Kipp Academy for a Friday Night Lights contest on September 20 at Chelsea Stadium.
CHS Boys Soccer Ties Northeast, 2-2
The Chelsea High boys soccer team opened its 2019 campaign last week with a 2-2 tie at Northeast Regional, one of the Red Devils’ chief rivals in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference.
CHS co-captain Delmer Romero earned the honor of scoring the first goal of the season, reaching the back of the Northeast net in the first half.
The Golden Knights responded to bring matters back to level with a marker eight minutes after the intermission, but senior Darwin Tupul, assisted by Romero, gave the advantage back to the Red Devils.
However, Northeast came back again with a goal with nine minutes to play to leave matters deadlocked at 2-2 at the ref’s final whistles.
Coach Mick Milutinovic, who this year is being assisted by Dave Bolduc with the departure of his long-time assistant coach, Evan Protasowicki, and his crew were set to take on Greater Lowell this past Tuesday and will host Lynn Tech tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. They will entertain Shawsheen next Tuesday and make the long trek to Essex Tech next Thursday.
Positive Signs for CHS Volleyball Team
Although the Chelsea High volleyball team dropped its first three matches of the season this past week, new head coach Gabriel Morales said he saw many positive signs that bode well for his young team’s future.
“Our first three matches have been a little rough for this young team,” said Morales. “But we are in high spirits and improving with every game.”
The Lady Red Devils dropped a 3-1 decision to Notre Dame Academy in their season-opener, but Chelsea delivered an astounding 20 service aces as a team, led by Gaby Cerna with seven aces and captain Deanna Christmas with five aces.
In a 3-0 loss to Shawsheen Valley Tech, Lady Revil co-captain and libero Gloria Rodriguez turned in what Morales termed, “A great performance. Gloria led the led the team in digs,” noted Morales. “She is a committed player who will always hustle toward every ball and give it her all.”
Chelsea’s third match of the week came against a strong Whittier Tech squad that features tough servers and some great attack power.
“In the first two sets, they blew us out of the water,” said Morales. “But we were resilient and fought hard in the third set, creeping up in the score, little-by-little. We even forced Whittier into a timeout when Stephanie Turcos went on a good run of serves.
“Junior outside hitter Jeynmy Sanchez served three aces in a row, which definitely gave us a big morale boost,” Morales added.
“This is my fourth year coaching at Chelsea High and my first year as head coach, so I knew it was a challenge going in, but these girls have really surpassed my expectations,” Morales said. “I am really excited to see what the future holds for this special group of girls.”
Morales and his crew will travel to Lynn Tech this coming Monday and then to Northeast Regional next Wednesday.
Busy Week for Girls Soccer Team
The Chelsea High girls soccer team opened its season against Northeast Regional last week and came up on the short end of a 7-1 decision.
Nancy Galdamez reached the back of the Northeast net to record the first goal of the season for the Lady Red Devils. Junior captain Elena Ruiz Fuentes assisted on the scoring play.
“The girls worked hard under the command of their captains, senior Lisandra Molina and junior Elena Ruiz Fuentes,” said CHS head coach Randy Grajal. “We have a lot of girls working hard in practice and I have a very positive outlook for our season.”
Grajal’s squad has a busy week on tap, with the Lady Red Devils playing four games over a 10-day span. They took on Greater Lowell this past Tuesday and will travel to Notre Dame today (Thursday). Next week they will trek to Shawsheen on Tuesday and entertain Essex Tech on Thursday.