EHS Boys Soccer Wins Seventh Straight
The Everett High boys soccer team extended its winning streak to seven games and its unbeaten streak to nine matches with a 5-3 victory over Greater Boston League rival Somerville, the first place team in the GBL, last Thursday.
The win moves the Crimson Tide within a point of the Highlanders in the GBL standings with one league game remaining to play for both. Somerville has an 11-2 league record and Everett has a 10-2-1 mark. The Crimson Tide were set to conclude their season with a contest vs. GBL rival Lynn Classical yesterday (Tuesday), while Somerville will play Revere in its GBL finale today (Wednesday).
The final game drama has a number of possible scenarios:
— Somerville can clinch an outright GBL title with a win over Revere;
— If Everett wins and Somerville loses, the Crimson Tide will claim an outright GBL crown;
— An Everett win and a Somerville tie will give both teams a share of the GBL title;
— An Everett tie and a Somerville loss also will give both teams a share of the GBL title.
Coach Pedro Blas and his crew, who stand at 12-3-1 overall, will wrap up their 2022 regular season on Friday at non-league opponent Wakefield.
The Crimson Tide then will await word of their seeding and preliminary round opponent in the upcoming Division 1 state soccer tournament.
EHS Girls Soccer Rolls Past English
The Everett High girls soccer team put it all together to earn a 10-0 victory at Greater Boston League rival Lynn English last Tuesday.
The Lady Crimson Tide seized the initiative from the outset, scoring a goal just 1:35 into the game when Yelsa Garcia hit a driven ball across the box to Lamiah Wyard, who delivered the ball into the back of the English net.
Five minutes later, Layla Betancur-Cardona, assisted by Alondra Flores, made it 2-0 and five minutes after that, Garcia, assisted by Emilia Maria-Babcock, upped the count to 3-0.
Leah Ferullo and Betancur-Cardona exchanged a few quick touches-and-passes to each other in the middle of the field that eventually resulted in Betancur-Cardona’s second goal, with Ferullo earning the assist.
Maria-Babcock got in on the fun to make it 5-0, assisted by Garcia, and Garcia concluded the scoring in the first half when she took a through-ball in alone on the English keeper.
Gabby Lones, a freshman who has worked hard the whole season and finally got some playing time, upped the count to 7-0 when she scored off a corner kick from Lamiah Wyard.
Betancur-Cardona scored her third goal of the contest for a hat trick off a set piece from about 25 yards out, making this her fourth set-piece conversion of the season.
Leandra Germain (a strong senior known as Ironman among her teammates) finally scored a goal when she controlled a ball that was loose in front of the net and put it into the back of the net.
The final Everett tally came when Maria-Babcock took a shot on goal that bounced off a defender into the English net for an own-goal.
“The team played very well, moving the ball across the field and finding their teammates,” said EHS head coach Dom Persuitte. “Our communication was great. It was an all-around great and enjoyable game.”
The Lady Crimson Tide played well two days later on Thursday, but came up short, 4-2, in a contest with GBL foe Somerville that was highlighted by Senior Night festivities.
The Lady Crimson Tide fell behind early, but a pair of goals by Garcia brought them back into the fray.
On her first goal midway through the second half, Yelsa took on the entire Somerville defense and pulled a check fake out, which caused the Somerville goalie to fall early, and then slotted her shot into an empty netl.
About 10 minutes later, Yelsa received the ball and once again delivered an accurate shot past the Somerville keeper.
“Jacky Machado played lights out as our goalkeeper,” said Persuitte. “Without her effort, the score would have been much higher.
“But I want to say that as a team, it was a well-put effort,” Persuitte added. “We dug ourselves into a hole in the beginning, but I am very proud of them, despite the score.”
Persuitte also applauded the performances of a number of other members of the team:
“Layla Betancur-Cardona held the midfield down. Both Luna Sepulveda and Emilia Maria-Babcok excelled on the outside wings. Shyann Ambersley, Leah Ferullo, and Casey Martinez played solid, lock-down defense. And Leandrea Germain kept the pressure on every player she had to cover,” said the coach.
In a contest at the start of last week with non-league opponent Latin Academy, the Lady Crimson Tide dropped a 5-0 decision.
“We had a strong first half and kept the pressure up and we only allowed one goal in the half,” said Persuitte.
Persuitte and his crew, who stand at 7-8-1 on the season, had two games remaining in the regular season in which they needed to get three points — a win and a tie — in order to attain a .500 record and punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney.
They were scheduled to play at O’Bryant High this past Monday and will meet Lynn Classical today (Wednesday).
EHS Girls Volleyball Team Tops Pioneer
The Everett High girls volleyball team earned its sixth win of the year with a 3-0 victory over Pioneer Charter School at Everett High School last Friday.
With three players out because of injury or illness, coach Mike Fineran relied on his team’s depth to secure the win. “We knew we needed someone to step up, but we actually got everyone to step up,” said Fineran, who used 12 players in the three sets.
One of those 12 was sophomore Kayleigh McMahon, who made her first appearance with the varsity squad and impressed Fineran with her composure and her solid passing. “Kayleigh is a natural on the court. You would never know that this is her first year playing volleyball,” said Fineran.
Solid passing allowed senior setters Samela De Souza and Julie Miranda to distribute 26 kills in the match, 11 coming from junior middle Nicole Brandao, who also had two blocks and two aces. De Souza added three kills of her own, and Miranda led the team with 19 service points and 12 aces.
Miranda took over serving in Game 1 with a 13-9 lead, and served the final 12 points. Fineran noted the play of senior outside hitter Sophia Sousa, who hit 10-of-12 serves in, with three aces, and added four kills.
“Sophia was phenomenal,” said Fineran. “There was one play where she served it in, rushed up to get the return pass, and then scored the kill from the back row.”
Senior middle Vanessa Almonte helped lead the way in Games 2 and 3 with five kills, three service points, and two aces. Senior outside hitter Michelle Ngo added three kills and sophomore Rochelle Castor, who was also making her varsity debut, was 6-for-6 on services, including three aces.
“All week in practice, we focused on making better passes off of the serve, and hitting with more speed and power,” said Fineran. “We were much better in both areas.”
Before the match, Everett’s junior varsity team improved its record to 12-5 on the season. Sophomores Murielle Campo and Clarice Alexis both served eight in a row in the first game, which the Tide took 25-6. Larissa Cezarino, Tanessa Duvilaire, and Trinh Dang tallied kills in the set, and Dang added four service points with two aces.
Dang added a kill and three aces in the second set, and Alexis went on another run of eight service points in the 25-11 second set win. Sonia Constanza Flores had two kills and two aces, and freshman Rileigh Kenney had a service point and a kill in the set.
Everett hosted Lynn Classical on Senior Night this past Monday and will entertain Saugus in the season finale today (Wednesday)
EHS Golf Team Wraps Up Season; Saia Is 3rd at GBL
The Everett High golf team completed its 2022 season at the Greater Boston League Open that was held last week at Kelley Greens in Nahant.
The teams played in what’s known as a Stableford format where double bogeys are worth 1 point, bogeys worth 2, pars worth 4, birdies worth 6, and eagles worth 8 points.
The highlight of the match for the Crimson Tide was the superb performance of senior David Saia, who finished in third place overall in the individual ranking with a score of 38 points, accounting for almost half of Everett’s total of 80 points.
Lynn Classical won the match with 174 points, followed by Lynn English with 116 points.
“Although we were winless this season, we improved tremendously,” said EHS head coach Steve Gallagher. “We were victorious in nine individual matches after winning none last season. David Saia finished off the season a respectable 4-7 while freshman Carolyn Fama was 3-6.
“Hopefully, we can carry some momentum into next season,” Gallagher added.
EHS Field Hockey Wins Two Games
The Everett High field hockey team enjoyed a successful week, winning two contests.
In a 2-1 victory over Greater Boston League rival Malden last Friday, Omar Marshall scored both goals for the Crimson Tide.
“Our entire team played very well,” said EHS head coach Melissa O’Donnell.
Earlier in the week, Everett topped non-league opponent Northeast Regional, 5-0, but came up short by a score of 5-1 to non-league foe Peabody last Thursday. Marshall scored the lone Everett goal in the latter contest
O’Donnell and her crew, who are looking to make a run in the final week of the season to qualify for the state tournament, were scheduled to host Malden yesterday (Tuesday) and then travel to Waltham today (Wednesday) and Wakefield tomorrow (Thursday).