CHS Football Team at Somerville Friday
The Chelsea High football team will make the trek westward down the Revere Beach Parkway and then onto the Mystic Valley Parkway to Dilboy Stadium to meet the Somerville Highlanders for a contest under the lights tomorrow (Friday) evening.
The opening kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
Coach Michael Jackson’s Red Devil crew will be seeking their third win of the season against a Highlander squad that has yet to break into the win column.
CHS Volleyball Team Wins Two Matches; Awaits State Tourney Foe
The Chelsea High volleyball team concluded its regular season on a high note, defeating a pair of non-league rivals, New Mission High School by a score of 3-1 and Mystic Valley by a score of 3-0.
In the latter contest, a host of Lady Red Devils made significant contributions to the winning effort: Jasmine Varela led the Chelsea offensive attack with five kills, five digs, and eight aces; Rileigh Connors set six assists for her teammates; Guidaysis Castro, Chelsea’s Libero (the term for defensive specialist), had seven digs; Dhalia Christmas served four aces; and Tatiana Sanabria added five kills and four aces.
Coach Gabriel Morales and his crew, who finished their season at 11-6, now await word of their final seeding and opening round opponent in the Division 2 state tournament. That announcement is set to come out at 1:00 on Monday.
CHS Cross Country Teams Defeat Malden
The Chelsea High boys and girls cross country teams made their visit to the Pine Banks course in Malden a successful one with victories over their Tornado counterparts.
The boys came through with a closely-fought, 24-31 victory, led by Alex Flores, who covered the 2.7-mile course in 17:52 to take first place. Teammate Alejandro Zepeda came across the line in second place in a clocking of 18:19 and Nate Nadow made it a 1-2-3 Red Devil finish with a time of 18:42.
Kyle Leong ran a strong race to take eighth place in 20:19 and Josue Hernandez completed the Chelsea scoring with a 10th place effort in 20:51.
Jose Amaya 20:58 also ran well with a time of 20:58 to finish in 11th position. Ajay Singh (15th in 22:40), Heriberto Dejesus (18th in 24:00), and Jimmy Merino (21st in 25:15) also competed for the Red Devils.
On the girls’ side, Gizelle Rodr√≠guez ran away from the field to take first place in a time of 20:48 to lead the Lady Red Devils to an 18-37 victory.
Teammate Darily Sanchez was next in second place in 22:43, followed by Rosalinda Rojas in fourth in 25:19, Holly Hatleberg in fifth in 26:57, Reina Moreira in sixth in 27:04, and Iyssis Henderson in eighth in 32:19.
Coach Reegan von Wildenradt and her crew, who also defeated Lynn English in a make-up of a previously-postponed meet, will compete in the Greater Boston League Invitational Meet that is set for today (Thursday), just a short trek down the Parkway to Macdonald Park in Medford.
Boys Soccer Needs a Tie To Reach Tourney
The Chelsea High boys soccer team will be seeking to punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney in their final two games of the regular season this coming week.
Coach Mick Milutinovic’s Red Devils, who stand at 7-6-2 on the season, were scheduled to play at Lynn Classical today (Thursday) and then will host Charlestown on Monday.
Chelsea needs a tie in either of those two contests in order to finish with the .500 record that is required to qualify for the post-season.
In their contests this past week, Chelsea dueled Medford, the third-place team in the Greater Boston League, to a 1-1 draw last Thursday.
After a scoreless opening half, Olvan Mendez gave the Red Devils a 1-0 lead when he took a nice through-pass from Kevin Garcia. Olvan used his blistering pace to escape the Mustang defenders and create some space, and then beat the Medford keeper.
The CHS defense held firm until the very end of the match when, with two minutes to go, Medford was able to get the ball into the box from a throw-in. There was confusion in the crowd of players and the ball was eventually tapped into the back of the CHS net to bring the contest back to level.
“Both teams had a plethora of chances, but many missed the target and didn’t challenge either keeper,” noted CHS assistant coach William Estrada.
Chelsea then took on non-league rival East Boston, a team that is ranked in the top 30 of Division 3 with a 10-5 record, this past Monday.
Eastie moved out to a 2-0 lead when the Jets scored two early goals from crosses. A free kick goal from Red Devil Steven Gamez sliced the lead to 2-1, but despite fighting valiantly in the second half, Chelsea was unable to notch the equalizer.
The contest was highlighted by Senior Night festivities at which the members of the CHS Class of 2023, Jerry Hernandez, Anthony Medrano, Bryan Medrano, Olvan Mendez, Xavier Orellana, Henry Vasquez, Angel Rosales, Jose ‘Smiley’ Melendez, and Jefferson Ruiz, were honored and recognized for their contributions to the CHS boys soccer program.
“It was great to be able to celebrate our seniors who have given so much to our program. They will be missed,” said Estrada.
If the Red Devils are successful in their bid to qualify for the state tourney, they will learn of their seeding and opening round opponent on Wednesday afternoon.