The Everett High boys hockey team is off to a fast start in its 2011-12 campaign. Coach Alex Naumann’s Crimson Tide skaters claimed a pair of runaway victories over the weekend, defeating Minuteman Regional 9-1 Saturday night and then icing O’Bryant High of Boston, 9-2, Sunday evening.
Everett received a balanced a scoring attack in the two victories, led by hat tricks from junior Shawn Doyle in the Minuteman contest and junior Reardan Sweeney vs. O’Bryant. Sophomore Stephen Faia and senior defenseman Joe Raymond each lit the lamp twice in the Minuteman victory, with freshmen James Liberge and Chris Durkin notching their first varsity goals against O’Bryant. Liberge also recorded three assists in the O’Bryant game.
Goaltending duties in the two wins were split between juniors Vin Sottosanti and Sean Bessler, with the latter going most of the way against O’Bryant.
Defense figures to be one of the strengths of the 2011-12 edition of the Crimson Tide. Naumann welcomes back an experienced corps of veteran blue liners, led by senior captains C.J. Sylvester and Brian Considine, who also are joined in the captaincy roles by senior forward Brian Ramunno.
“We’re pretty well set with our defense,” noted Naumann, who was able to move Sweeney from defense to forward thanks to the Tide’s depth at the blue line. “We have some new players on the forward lines. But they’re working hard and it’s just a matter of them coming together as the season progresses.”
Naumann and his crew will be back in action Friday evening at Pentucket and will play in the Lynn Christmas tournament during the vacation break in which the opponents will be Northeast Regional, Lynn, and Salem.
Heartbreaking loss for EHS girls in OT
The Everett High girls basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 52-50 decision to No. Quincy in overtime in the opening game of the season for Coach Tammy Turner’s Lady Crimson Tide quintet.
The contest was a nip and tuck affair from the opening tap to the final buzzer. Everett grabbed a 13-12 advantage at the end of the quarter, trailed 24-19 at the half, and then forged ahead 36-35 after three stanzas thanks to a Taylor Sweeney three pointer at the buzzer.
No. Quincy tied the game in regulation with a bucket with 11 seconds to go and then took an early advantage in the four minute OT session. However, Everett battled back and drew within two thanks to a mad dash by Tori Cyrus in the waning seconds, but time ran out before Everett could get the ball back.,
Sweeney led the way for Everett in the scoring department with 14 points, all in the second half. The Lady Crimson Tide captain missed most of the first half thanks to a pair of early fouls that sent her to the pine for the latter part of the first quarter and all of the second period..
Fellow captain Amanda DeSouza also reached double figures with 13 points. Spressa Ramadani hit for nine points and played a tenacious game at defense, with many of her points coming off steals. Captain Cyrus struck for eight points and Savannah Spinney chipped in six.
“I was very pleased with the team’s effort,” said Turner. “They came out playing hard and battled all the way to the end. We really missed Taylor’s presence for most of the first half and it might have been a different game if she had not sat out for so long.”
As is typically the case in a basketball game at any level, the tale of the game could be seen in the statistics category in the box score under free throw shooting. Everett hit just five of 15 shots from the charity stripe on the night, a 33 percent performance, whereas No. Quincy’s FT percentage was above 50 percent.
Turner and her crew were set to be back in action last night (Tuesday) at Haverhill and will play at Marblehead Tuesday afternoon during the vacation week.
EHS track teams race against Malden
The Everett High girls and boys indoor track teams opened the 2011-12 season last week against Greater Boston League rival Malden. Although both the boys and girls came out on the short ends in the scoring column, EHS head coach Shelanda Irish saw a number of positive signs with her charges.
The girls’ meet saw a number of Lady Crimson Tide performers turn in first place performances. Lena Nguyen grabbed first place in the 50 yard hurdles in a time of 9.8; Katie Steeves took first place in the 300, blazing past the field in 44.9; Trisha McQuade brought home a first in the shotput with a throw of 24-4.5; and in the 4 x 400 meter relay, the foursome of Katie Steeves, Luana DeMenzes. Maeve Kernan, and Serina Welch-Shull took first place in 5:14.
Other point scorers for Everett were: Luana DeMenzes took second in the 600 in 1:53.1; Faith Pinho took third in the 1000 in 4:11.2; Jessica Mangan grabbed second in the mile in 6:26.8; Maeve Kernan ran to second in the two mile in 13:16.8; and Corrina Reason took second in the high jump with a leap of 4-0.
On the boys’ side, the top performance of the day was turned in by the 4 x 400 meter relay quartet of Jonathan Mendez, Soufiane Fdal, Henry Maldonado, and Andres Tejada, who took first place over their Malden counterparts in a time of 4:46.8.
Other point scorers for the Everett boys were Henry Maldonado with a third in the 50 yard dash; Andres Tejada with a second in the 300 yard dash in 37.4; Jonathan Mendez with a third in the 300 in 38.9; Carlos Duran with a second in the 600 yard dash in 1:32; Caio Simao with a third in the 1000 yard run in 2:53.8; and Daniel Plunkett with a second in the shotput with a toss of 32- 8.5.
“Overall, we had some solid performances both on the girls’ and boys’ sides,” said Irish. “However, Malden outscored us in every event except the girls’ shot put, hurdles, 300, and the girls and boys relays and that makes it difficult to secure a win if we don’t have depth in many events. We have a lot of new kids who joined the team this season, so it was a good experience for them and they will look to improve on their performances as the season continues. “