Goals Galore for EHS Boys Soccer
The Everett High boys soccer team enjoyed a highly-successful week, defeating Greater Boston League (GBL) rivals Malden and Chelsea. The Crimson Tide poured in six goals in both games, knocking off the Golden Tornadoes, 6-1, and the Red Devils, 6-3.
“We had a great week,” said EHS head coach Pedro Blas. “We started playing much better as a team. Our offense definitely has improved and we put a few goals in the back of the net.
“Both of our opponents were great,” noted Blas. “They played very physical and smart soccer against us, but thankfully our guys stepped up. Our league MVP from last year, senior Dieff Bonhomme, has been great for us again. He usually gets things going fast and opens the scoring to get the ball rolling.”
The goal-scorers for the Tide in the two contests were seniors Kauan Moreira, Kaic Coutinho Da Silva, Christopher Figueroa, and Wilbur Romero and sophomore Gabriel Garcia.
Blas and his crew were scheduled to face their toughest test of the season yesterday (Tuesday) against GBL foe Revere. Both the Tide and the Patriots entered the fray with 3-0 records. Everett then will travel to GBL rival Lynn English tomorrow (Thursday) and will host non-league opponent Greater Lawrence on Friday and GBL rival Lynn Classical next Tuesday at 7-Acre Park.
EHS Girls Soccer Tops Two GBL Foes
The Everett High girls soccer team enjoyed a successful week, knocking off a pair of Greater Boston League (GBL) opponents, Malden and Chelsea.
The Lady Crimson Tide came out blazing in their contest with the Lady Golden Tornadoes of Malden last Tuesday and cruised to a 4-1 win. The first goal was scored by Emilia Maria-Babcok with an assist from Luna Sepulveda Maselli seven minutes into the contest.
Yelsa Garcia made it 2-0 when she dribbled through the midfield and defense from the 50-yard line, taking on the entire Malden team, and then delivering a strike from the 18-yard box into the back of the net.
“We went into the half with a 2-0 lead,” said EHS head coach Dom Persuitte, who noted the strong performance of the Tide’s keeper, Laura Sanchez Cespedes.
“Laura came up with a handful of saves that, if let in, could have changed the outcome of the game,” Persuitte. Sanchez Cespedes pitched a shutout until she was replaced by freshman goalkeeper Kayle Velasques with about 15 minutes left of the game.
The Lady Crimson Tide doubled their advantage after the intermission with Luna Sepulveda Maselli and Adalmita Silva scoring. Adalmita scored on a scramble in front of the Malden keeper and shot a rocket into the back of the net, while Luna, who was running a wing for the whole game, scored on a Malden missed goal kick that didn’t find its mark.
Malden scored in the last minute of the game via a defensive breakdown.
Two days later the Lady Crimson Tide blanked their Chelsea foe from across the Parkway, 6-0.
“Chelsea put up a great fight, as they packed in the middle and made it difficult to execute our game play,” said Persuitte. “The game was a scrappy one as Chelsea dug in.”
Yelsa Garica and Layla Cardona both scored a hat trick. Layla scored on two free kicks, which are her specialty, delivering them into the back of the Lady Red Devil net with some force.
Luna Sepulveda Maselli assisted Yelsa’s final goal with 17 minutes left in the game. Laura Sanchez Cespedes got another shutout under her belt, along with freshman keeper Kayle Velasques, as they split time in the match.
“The overall performance came from our defense with Shyann Ambersley, Sophie Arana-Quintanilla, and newcomer Maria Silvestri,” said Persuitte. “Kathleen De Souza held her own on the right wing, running both lines and adding some pressure to the Chelsea defense.
“Emilia Maria-Babcock also had a great game with many opportunities to score, but just couldn’t find the back of the net,” the coach added. “Emilia’s overall hustle is unmatched.”
Last Saturday, the Lady Crimson Tide took on non-league rival Cambridge Rindge and Latin and came up on the short end of a 10-1 decision. Garcia notched the lone EHS tally.
“It was not our best game,” said Persuitte. “Laura Sanchez played extremely well despite the number of goals let in — she legit kept the score down. We were outplayed, but it was a learning experience for the whole team.”
Persuitte and his crew were scheduled to meet GBL foe Revere yesterday (Tuesday) and will entertain GBL opponent Lynn English tomorrow (Thursday). They will trek to Lynn English next Tuesday.
Girls Volleyball Team Edges Malden, 3-2
The Everett High girls volleyball team earned a hard-fought and thrilling 3-2 victory over Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Malden last Monday.
The Lady Crimson Tide started strong and built a 14-6 lead in the first set behind aces by senior Darrynn Desrameaux and junior Emilly Nogueira. Junior Tanessa Duvilaire had two kills and three service points, and Desrameaux served three in a row to end the set, 25-21.
In the second set, senior captain Nicole Brandao had three aces, two kills and a block, and senior Kaesta Sandy had two blocks and a kill. Junior Kayleigh McMahon closed out the set with a serve, 25-22.
In the third set, Everett had two kills from Desrameaux and three from Sandy, but could not stop Malden from pulling away. Five serves from junior Murielle Campo helped Everett battle back to take the lead 17-16, but the Tide lost the set, 25-19.
Malden seized their new-found momentum in the fourth set, cruising to a 25-11 win.
However, the Everett girls reasserted themselves in the fifth and deciding set. Brandao served the first two points and junior setter Victoria Rodrigues followed with three more. Junior libero Sonia Flores served to put Everett up 8-2 in the race to 15.
But with Everett leading 10-4, Everett captain Nicole Brandao went down with a sprained ankle. “Nicole is our emotional leader and she sets the tone for us,” said EHS head coach Michael Fineran. “It hurt to see her get hurt, because we know how great she is as a leader.”
Sensing an opening, Malden clawed back into the match, but a missed serve allowed Everett to escape with a 15-13 win.
“Even when we were up 2-0, I told the team we should expect it to go five, and I think I even said it’ll probably be 15-13, because that’s usually the way it goes when we play them,” Fineran said. “In the last few years, we haven’t been getting the bounces and we’ve come up on the losing end of these close contests. It felt great to walk out a winner.”
Two days later, Everett hosted a hard-hitting Chelsea squad. With Brandao out and Nogueira nursing a wrist injury, Everett looked to two sophomores to step in, Amanda Verteiro and Juliette Romboli.
“Both are talented athletes who can hit and serve with power,” said Fineran. “Romboli tallied four kills and an ace on the night and Verteiro had three kills, two aces, and a dig. Fellow sophomore Nicole Damaceno helped fill the scoring void too, tallying two kills and two kills from the setter spot.
“We held a slim lead in the first set 23-22, but we had given them five points on missed serves, and we can’t do that and expect to beat good teams,” said the coach. “We dropped the set 25-23, and then fell flat in the second set, losing 25-6. We couldn’t do anything right, and the only thing we could do was forget it and move on, which is exactly what we did, winning the next set 25-21, thanks to a pair of kills from Desrameaux and Sandy, and four serves to close out the set from Rodrigues.”
Rodrigues served seven in a row in the fourth set to put Everett up 9-8, and it was back and forth with Everett serving, down 19-18, but that would be as close as the Tide would get, dropping the match, 3-1.
Last Friday Everett hosted Saugus, but right at the end of warmups, the injury bug struck again when the Lady Crimson Tide lost Flores, the team’s libero, marking Everett’s third player to go down with an ankle injury in the season’s first two weeks.
“That threw off our focus, not to mention my lineup, so we did not start well, dropping the opener 25-16,” said Fineran.
Two aces and two kills from Romboli and three kills and four service points from Sandy helped Everett stay competitive before dropping the second set, 25-17. Nogueira made a return to the lineup as a server to start the third set and powered Everett to an 8-0 lead. Blocks from Duvilaire and Sandy, and pairs of kills from both Verteiro and Romboli gave the Tide a 25-23 win.
“We were competitive in the fourth set, but five untimely missed serves kept us looking up most of the set, which we wound up losing 25-20,” noted Fineran.
“When we started the season, we had 15 players on varsity, not including Romboli,” Fineran continued. “We went down to 13, then lost two more to injury. We should get our captain back in the next week or two, but we know that we all need to be better, including me.
“I need to be better at getting us focused and ready to implement our strategy,” Fineran added. “Our servers need to be more consistent. Our hitters need to make fewer errors while also staying aggressive. Our passers need to get the ball to the setter so she can set up our attack. These are the things we always work on. This can still be a special year for us, and it can be even more special because of the adversity we will have to overcome to play in November. And hopefully by then, we’ll have everyone back and healthy, too. I’d like to see the damage our full squad can do in the tournament.”
Fineran and his crew, who now are 2-2 on the season, were scheduled to take on five GBL foes over a 10-day stretch: at Lynn Classical this past Monday; home vs. English today (Wednesday); at Somerville tomorrow (Thursday); at Medford next Monday; and home vs. Revere next Wednesday.
Boys Cross Country Wins Season-Opener
The Everett High boys cross country team made a successful debut for its 2023 season with a 21-36 victory over Greater Boston League rival Lynn Classical last Tuesday on the three-mile course at Lynn Woods.
The Crimson Tide’s Nischal Tamang took top honors in the meet with a time of 20:12. Teammate Dawens Germain grabbed third place with a clocking of 21:59, followed by Anthony Whitlow in fourth in 22:00, David Huezo in sixth in 22:49, and Jeremy Whitlow in seventh in 22:50 to complete the Everett scoring.
Lucas Nunez (ninth place in 23:25) and Harry Jaikaran (12th place in 27:14) also turned in strong performances for coach Brendan Hahesy’s squad.
On the girls’ side, Suzanne Maharjan finished in third place with a time of 29:06.
EHS Golfers Open 2023 Season
Although the Everett High golf team came up on the short end of a 49-23 decision to Greater Boston League rival Malden/Revere in its opening match of the 2023 season, EHS head coach Steve Gallagher saw many positive signs from his young squad.
“We lost a number of key players from last year, so we’re in a bit of a rebuild,” said Gallagher. “This was the first career match for a few of the current players, so expectations were tempered in this one.”
Senior captain Makenzie Powers played at #1 for the Crimson Tide and acquitted herself well against her Malden/Revere counterpart in a contest in which Makenzie fell by a score of 7-2. Sophomore Carolyn Fama played what Gallagher termed “a great match,” but came up just short by a score of 5-4.
“We have six matches over the next two weeks, so we’re looking forward to gathering some experience and hopefully building up some momentum as we go forward,” said Gallagher.