CHS Football Team To Host East Boston Friday Night
The Chelsea High football team will be seeking its first win of the season when the Red Devils host the East Boston Jets tomorrow evening (Friday) under the lights at Chelsea Stadium.
The opening kickoff is set for 6:00.
Although the Red Devils came up short in their contest last week against Malden by a score of 38-12, CHS head coach has been seeing some positive signs from his squad.
“We have a lot of young players and are taking our lumps,” said Jackson. “However, senior running back Herman Esquivel has been extraordinary in all three games and ran for 150 yards against Malden.”
CHS Boys Soccer Tops Revere, 3-1
Although Thursday’s game for the Chelsea High boys soccer with Greater Boston League archrival Revere was preceded by rainfall which created a very wet pitch, the soggy conditions did not bog down the Red Devils, who posted a 3-1 victory over the Patriots behind a hat trick performance by freshman Jose Joj.
Chelsea took a quick 1-0 lead early in the first half thanks to some nice teamwork in which the Red Devils displayed their passing skills.
Jose ‘Smiley’ Melendez started the Chelsea advance when he passed the ball out wide on the left side to Jefferson Ruiz.
Jefferson dribbled toward the Revere goal, drawing the attention of the Patriot defenders and keeper, and then sent a nice pass across the box to Joj, who tapped it in for his first goal of the season.
Although Revere brought the contest back to level a few minutes later with a powerful shot from outside the box that went beyond the reach of CHS keeper Daylin Yanes.
With the rain making control of the ball difficult for the attacking players, the duo of Ruiz and Joj struck again despite the slick turf.
Jefferson sent a ball over toward Joj and Jose hustled to get the ball on the bounce, dribbled towards goal, and then delivered a strike that beat the Revere keeper.
The Red Devils maintained their slim 2-1 advantage through the rest of the first half and for most of the second before Joj found the back of the Revere net for his hat trick to provide Chelsea with an insurance goal.
The marker came off a set play when Chelsea had a corner kick on the right side of the field. Midfielder Kevin Garcia played a low ball to the inside post, from where Jose struck a one-timer to beat the Patriot keeper.
The goal was reminiscent of Jefferson Ruiz’s goal on a similar corner kick lay in Chelsea’s contest against Lynn English earlier that week.
“This a game that Jose will never forget,” noted CHS assistant coach William Estrada.
The Red Devils’ next contest with GBL foe Medford on Saturday morning did not deliver the same magic for the Chelsea side.
The Mustangs set the tone early with a goal on which CHS keeper Yanes made a superb save on a shot from point-blank range, but the ball went up in the air perfectly to a Medford player, who scored on a header. As the game wore on, little mistakes allowed Medford to score two more goals in the first half and an additional two goals after the intermission for the 5-0 finale.
“We had good passages of attacking play, especially in the first half, but our defensive shape let us down,” said Estrada. “The most concerning part of the game was the amount of injuries we had in the second half. By the end of the game, our only healthy players were the 11 on the field. Outfield player Xavier Orellana had to play in goal for the last 20 minutes of the game after Daylin Yanes got injured during a collision with one of our defenders.”
CHS head coach Mick Milutinovic and his crew, who are 3-2-1 on the season, were scheduled to meet Malden yesterday (Wednesday) and will host Lynn Classical at Chelsea Stadium on Monday. They will trek to Somerville next Thursday.
CHS Cross Country Teams Defeat Everett
The Chelsea High boys and girls cross country teams defeated Greater Boston League rival Everett on the latter’s 2.5 mile course last Wednesday.
On the boys side, the Red Devils narrowly edged their Crimson Tide foes, 26-30.
Chelsea’s Kevin Flores finished in first place in a time of 15:46. Teammate Alejandro Zepeda came across in third spot with a clocking of 16:22, followed by Nate Nadow in fifth in 17:00, Kyle Leong in seventh in 17:07, and Austin Freeman in ninth in 18:08 to complete the Chelsea scoring.
Other Chelsea boys who competed for coach Reegan von Wildenradt’s squad were Jose Amaya (11th place in 19:14), Ajay Singh (13th in 20:32), Jimmy Merino (14th in 22:40), and Heriberto De Jesus (15th in 23:07).
For the girls, Gizelle Rodriguez ran away from the field to finish in first place with a time of 17:43. Teammate Darily Sanchez took second spot in a clocking of 19:13. Holly Hatleberg clinched the 7-15 Chelsea victory with a fourth-place effort in 22:18. Reina Moreira came across the line in sixth position in 27:27.
“Kyle Leong had a particularly strong race on the boys’ side,” said von Wildenradt. “Kyle had the fastest last half mile on the entire team and is making huge improvements every week. Jose Amaya is another boy who is looking strong and consistent and is making steady improvements.
“The girls also raced well,” added the coach. “I’m proud of Gizelle for picking up another first place finish, and she’s also steadily improving. Our other three girls also all did great. Holly Hatleberg had a really strong and aggressive start to this race and finished well. Darily Sanchez is looking consistent and is right where we want her to be right now, and Reina put in an awesome effort despite not feeling 100 percent to get us some needed points.”
The week before, both CHS squads came up short in their meet with Somervile.
The girls’ contest was a close one, with the Lady Red Devils falling by a score of 24-34. The Lady Red Devils finished as follows:
1st Gizelle Rodriguez 22:37
4th Darily Sanchez 25:08
7th Giselle Olivar 26:07
9th Rosalinda Rojas 27:00
13th Holly Hatleberg 29:09
14th Reina Moreira 29:59
15th Iyssis Henderson 37:36
“I was really happy with the girls’ performance overall,” said von Wildenradt. “Gizelle Rodriguez had an excellent race on a hot day and did a good job holding the lead the entire race. Rosalinda Rojas also had a great race, running a personal best and grabbing a top 10 spot.”
For the boys, who came out on the long end of a 15-50 outcome against the potent Highlanders, the Red Devils’ order of finish was as follows:
6th Kevin Flores 19:56
9th Nate Nadow 20:58
14th Kyle Leong 22:59
15th Alejandro Zepeda 23:05
17th Jose Amaya 24:21
18th Austin Freeman 24:34
“Kevin Flores ran another great race, hitting another PR for the season,” said von Wildenradt. “Nate Nadow and Kyle Leong also had really strong performances, with Nate getting a top 10 spot against a really strong Somerville team.”
Both CHS teams, who are 2-1 on the season, were scheduled to take on Lynn Classical yesterday (Wednesday) and Lynn English next Thursday on their home course at Admiral’s Hill.
“We’re looking forward to both of those races,” said von Wildenradt.