The Everett High boys hockey team punched its ticket for a Journey to the Tourney with a 3-1 win over Cambridge last Wednesday. The triumph improved the Crimson Tide’s record to 10-3-1 on the season, pushing them past the crucial 20 points needed to qualify for the post season state tournament, marking the first appearance for an EHS hockey team in the tourney in nine years.
The contest started inauspiciously for Everett when Cambridge potted a goal just 1:09 into the contest. However, Reardan Sweeney got the Tide back on track with the equalizer less than a minute later, assisted by Bryan Ramunno.
James Liberge, assisted by Stephen Faia, gave Everett the lead for good 1:45 into the second frame. Shawn Doyle then provided what would prove to be an insurance marker when he lit the lamp at 10:30, assisted by Faia and Ryan Considine. Liberge had started the play with a neat forecheck of a Cambridge player that started the Everett rush.
EHS goaltender Vin Sottosanti turned in a fine game in nets, shutting out Cambridge for the remaining 58:55 after yielding the opening goal.
With their tourney berth in hand, the Crimson Tide next moved onto an encounter with Medford, the undefeated, first place team in the GBL which had handily defeated Everett in their first meeting, 5-0. Everett already had avenged two of its previous losses this season, to Pentucket and Somerville, and with Coach Alex Naumann’s now-famous Mohawk haircut dyed an appropriate shade of Crimson red, the Everett squad took to the ice in hopes of turning the tables on Medford in their rematch.
Although Everett once again gave up an early marker, this one just 30 seconds after the opening faceoff, and then fell behind 2-0, the Tide soon gave Medford an indication of the type of team they have become over the course of the season.
Faia poked home a rebound on a shot by C.J. Sylvester which originated on a nice 3-on-2 rush with Liberge to leave matters at 2-1 at the first horn.
Medford reinstated its two goal lead 3:30 into the second period, but just 1:30 later, a power play goal by Doyle, assisted by Cody Nadeau, who fed Doyle a nice pass from behind the net, made it a 3-2 affair after two periods.
Medford took a 4-2 lead with a goal 5:00 into the final frame, but Ramunno beat the Medford netminder between his legs to make it a one goal contest with eight minutes to play.
Though the Crimson Tide continued to press, they were unable to notch the equalizer.
“We may have lost, but I was very proud of the way the team played,” said Naumann. “If we play with that sort of intensity and determination for the rest of the season, we should do very well over our remaining schedule and be well-prepared for the state tournament.”
The Crimson Tide have one contest on tap this week, hosting Mystic Valley, and are off until next Wednesday when they entertain Brookline. Face off time at the local rink for both contests is 8:00 p.m.
Girls win two of three, one away from tourney
The Everett High girls basketball team won two of its three contests this past week to improve to 9-7 on the season. The Lady Crimson Tide now need to win just one more game to qualify for the post season state tourney.
After a slow start against Malden last Tuesday which saw Malden take an 11-8 edge after the first period, the Everett girls revved up their engines in the second frame and zoomed to a 32-15 advantage by the half.
“We picked up our intensity on defense and that in turn led to a lot of fast break baskets for us,” said EHS head coach Tammy Turner, noting that Taylor Sweeney led the defensive demolition of Malden with three steals in the period. “We made some beautiful passes on our breaks and really played great team basketball.” Tori Cyrus hit two three pointers along the way to put a pair of exclamation points on the 24-4 Everett run.
Everett kept the pedal to the metal the rest of the way en route to a 54-27 romp. Cyrus and Sweeney shared scoring honors with 10 points each. Mimi Febles hit for eight points,
Amanda DeSouza and Jess Wade added six, Yemi Okhihan contributed four, and Spressa Ramadani and Mariana Miranda chipped in two apiece.
Savannah Spinney made a major contribution off the boards with 16 rebounds, of which nine were at the offensive end to give her team numerous second chances..
The Lady Crimson Tide came back the following night to avenge an earlier defeat to No. Quincy, this time coming out on top by a three point margin, 40-37. Everett trailed the entire contest, though narrowly (one point at the halftime and third quarter markers), but did not move into the lead until Sweeney drained two successive treys, the first one tying the score at 35-35 with 2:30 to go and the second boosting Everett into a 38-35 advantage with 2:00 to play.
No. Quincy scored a bucket to make it a one point affair, but with five seconds left on the clock, Cyrus put the game on ice by cooly sinking two clutch free throws for the 40-37 finale.
Cyrus was top scorer with 14 points, followed by Sweeney with 11, DeSouza with five, Daphnica Nazarie with four, and Ramadani, Spinney, and Wade with two each. Nazarie pulled down a key offensive rebound and putback in the fourth period, while Ramadani grabbed seven offensive rebounds from her back court position. “Spressa really kept the ball alive for us a number of times,” noted Turner.
The lone setback for the Everett girls came Friday with a 44-35 loss to Cambridge. The contest was a closely fought affair through three quarters, with the teams deadlocked at 7-7 and 17-17 at the first two junctures, and Everett holding a slim 28-27 advantage after three frames.
However, Cambridge caught fire in the final eight minute session to come away with the victory. “We had beaten them fairly easily the first time we met, so this loss was very disappointing,” said Turner. “We played too tentatively and it caught up with us in the fourth period.”
Cyrus hit for 17 points, with teammates DeSouza (6), Sweeney (3), Wade (3), Ramadani (2), and Nazarie (2) also getting into the scorebook.
The Lady Crimson Tide, who need one win in their final four games in order to punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney, sought the clincher starting last night (Tuesday) at Medford. They will trek to Waltham next Tuesday.
Boys 4 x 200 relay falls just short of states
How fast is 0 03 (three hundredths) of a second? Faster than the blink of an eye might be one answer.
Another is this: That’s the amount of time that separated the Everett High boys 4 x 200 relay team from qualifying for the State Meet later this season at Saturday’s so-called Last Chance Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.
The quartet of Soufiane Fdal, Bryan Cedeno, Jonathan Mendez, and Andres Tejada sped around the oval in a clocking of 1:39.27, a season’s best. However, they needed a time of 1:39.24 to qualify for the states.
“They ran a great race and gave it their all,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish, “but they came up just short.”
Other members of the Crimson Tide boys and girls track teams who competed at the meet included Katie Steeves in the 300 meter dash, 55 meter dash, and long jump; Maeve Kernan in the mile; Henry Maldonado in the 55 dash; Tejada and Mendez in both the 300 dash and long jump; Cedeno in the 55 meter dash; and Fdal in the 300 dash.
The JV track teams will compete in the GBL All League Meet today (Wednesday) and the varsity runners will compete Saturday.