EHS Girls Soccer Tops English, 6-1
The Everett High girls soccer team earned a 6-1 victory over Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Lynn English last Thursday.
“We came out on fire, passing the ball around the entire field,” said EHS head coach Dom Persuitte. “We had a great effort by Emilia Maria-Babcock in her new role as a center defensive midfielder. “
Yelsa Garcia netted two goals for the Lady Crimson Tide. Yelsa’s first goal was a defensive block six minutes into the game and then she scored again with an assist from Adalmita Silva.
Silva herself scored two minutes later with an assist from Layla Cardona, and Maria Silvestri, a newcomer to the program who has made a name for herself running the right wing, scored on another defensive block to make matters 4-0 at the intermission
In the second half, Everett scored two more goals thanks to freshman Layla Leles, who was assisted by Alondra Flores, and Cardona, who reached the back of the English net with a rocket of a shot from the 18-yard box.
Goalkeeper Laura Sanchez had a cheat slate in the first half, while freshman goalkeeper Kaylee Velasquez took over in the second half and played well. “The team played extremely well and stepped up in many parts that were being missed,” added Persuitte.
Two days earlier, the Lady Crimson Tide came out on the short end of a 3-0 decision to undefeated Revere.
“Our keeper, Laura Sanchez, had a great game, “ said Persuitte. “She held her own as she saw shot after shot from Revere. Emilia Maria-Babcock had a stellar game, stepping into a new role as a defender. She played lights out. Another player of note for us was Maria Silvestri. Despite the loss, we played well, and we’re looking forward to playing them again to even the score.”
Persuitte and his crew were scheduled to travel to GBL rival Lynn Classical yesterday (Tuesday) and will host GBL foes Somerville tomorrow (Thursday), Medford next Tuesday, and Malden next Thursday at 7-Acre Park.
Volleyball Team Wins Two Matches
The Everett High volleyball team brought its record over the .500 mark at 4-3 with a pair of victories this past week over Greater Boston League (GBL) rivals Lynn English at home last Wednesday and Somerville on the road last Thursday.
The Tide began their week with a 3-0 loss to undefeated Lynn Classical last Monday.
“We got our captain, Nicole Brandao, back from an ankle injury and her presence helped us stay even through much of the first set,” said EHS head coach Mike Fineran.
Senior Kaesta Sandy had a pair of kills in the opening set, which Everett led 14-12. Junior Kayleigh McMahon stepped in as libero for Sonia Flores, who is out with her own ankle injury, and played well, with an ace and a dig in the set.
But Everett’s serve receivers had trouble with Classical’s tough servers, leading to a 25-16 loss in the first game.
“We could not generate anything in game 2 until it was too late, missing two of our first five serves and falling behind 12-5,” noted Fineran. “Junior setter Victoria Rodrigues had a run of five serves to cut the deficit to 23-14, but that was just too big of a hole to dig our way out of.
“We seem to have one set like this in every match, where we have trouble receiving serves and getting our own in, and when we do get to a pass, we can’t set up any kind of attack,” Fineran added.
However, the Everett squad has been able to regroup throughout the year after those tough sets and then plays much better in the following set. “That was the case here, too,” said Fineran.
Brandao had a pair of kills, Sandy had three kills and two aces. Sophomore Amanda Verteiro had a dig and four service points. Sophomore Nicole Damaceno served to put Everett up, 19-15, but the Tide hit their next three serves out as Classical clawed back, taking the set 25-22.
“They definitely have a strong team, but we did not play our best volleyball,” said Fineran. “We had one day of practice before back-to-back games, and we used that practice to work on our serve receive and our attack,” said Fineran.
That focus paid off early in Wednesday’s match with Lynn English, as Everett won the first set, 25-19. Junior Murielle Campo served three aces to give the Tide a 6-0 lead. Sandy and Brandao combined for six kills. Sandy also added a block and an ace, and Verteiro had a kill and an ace.
Sandy was a force in the second set, earning another three kills and block, and also had a run of nine serves, including six aces, which gave Everett a 10-5 lead. Brandao added two blocks, a kill, and an ace, and senior Darrynn Desrameaux had a kill to help Everett take a 2-0 lead in the match.
“But, like we’ve experienced in most of the matches, we had one clunker of a set in Game 3,” noted Fineran. “We served four of our first six serves out, fell behind 14-5, and dropped the set 25-18.”
Sophomore Juliette Romboli had one of her two kills and a dig in the set, and McMahon served nine in a row with three aces to make the final score respectable.
But once again the Lady Crimson Tide shook off the rough set and regrouped in the fourth set, with junior Trinh Dang serving Everett to a 4-1 lead. Three kills and two aces from Sandy made it 13-12. At that point, Brandao took over the serve and aced four out of five points to give Everett a cushion that took some of the pressure off, with the Tide winning the set and the match, 25-19.
“I have been telling the team that our best players need to step up if we’re going to achieve the nine wins we need to qualify for the state tournament,” said Fineran. “We have had injuries, but we also have talent right down our bench. We also have incredible leaders. Kaesta Sandy does things on the court that no one else in the league can do. Nicole Brandao is our rock. It’s great to have her back. Her string of serves made the difference. If we didn’t get separation at that point, it would have been a much different match, and who knows what would have happened in a race to 15 in a fifth set. But she handles the pressure as well as anyone.”
The next day Fineran and his crew traveled to Somerville for what they knew would be a tough match. The opening set was exactly as they expected, a back-and-forth battle. Verteiro served two aces to tie it early 8-8. Rodrigues served three in a row to pull closer, 18-17. Brandao had four kills and two serves to give Everett a 21-20 lead. McMahon served the final points to provide a 25-23 win.
“We were looking up for most of the set, but we hung around and made just enough plays to take the set,” said Fineran, “and it’s a good thing we did, because our clunker came next. We missed serves and could not set up much of an attack, dropping Game 2, 25-14. But we’re used to those by now, so we brushed it off and roared back in Game 3, winning 25-16.”
McMahon had five service points with two aces, Sandy had three kills, a block, and an ace. Rodrigues had a kill and five service points, Brandao had two kills, two blocks, and two aces.
“Dang and Campo also solidified our back row passing, which helped Rodrigues set up kills for Verteiro and Desrameaux in the win,” said Fineran. “This match too, could have gone five sets, as many of our matches against Somerville do, but we did not want to give them that chance.”
Three points from Campo and an ace from McMahon gave Everett a 5-4 lead. Desrameaux had a pair of kills, and Sandy had three service points to put Everett up, 11-8. Senior co-captain Yasmine Laabadla served and had two digs, but once again it was Brandao who powered the team when they needed her the most.
Nicole had three kills and a dig in the set, and she served two aces in four serves to put Everett on the brink of victory, 24-19. Campo came in as a defensive replacement and helped force the final error for Somerville, as Everett won 25-20.
“We won our first two matches this season, but then lost Nicole to injury and lost the next three matches. We got her back and won the last two,” said Fineran. “We should get Sonia Flores and Emilly Nogueira (wrist) back soon, which will help us as we start to see teams for the second time this week.
“We know we are good enough to hang with our league’s top teams,” Fineran continued. “We also know that if we don’t play at our best, anyone can beat us. We have four weeks left in the regular season, and we need at least five more wins. That’s our goal. We know what we need to do. We also know we have not played our best volleyball yet. When we get all our pieces back healthy, and if we stay focused, the sky’s the limit for this team.”
Everett was scheduled to take on GBL foe Medford this past Monday. They will host Revere today (Wednesday) and Malden next Monday before traveling to Chelsea next Wednesday.
EHS Field Hockey Earns First Victory
The Everett High field hockey team earned its first victory of the season, giving new head coach Sabrina Wright her first career win, with a 2-1 triumph over Greater Lowell last Wednesday.
Prior to the big win, the Crimson Tide traveled to Wakefield last Tuesday for their first away encounter of the season. Junior Caden Sylva was named the honorary captain for the contest.
“We played the best we’ve played this season in the first half,” said Wright. “Wakefield was only up 1-0. After halftime unfortunately, the little things got to us and we ended up losing 6-0.”
EHS goalie Willins Julien, who faced 22 shots on goal, played well in the net. In addition, senior captain Stephany DeSouza was chosen as the Tide’s MVP for the contest.
“The new thing we are doing is we choose an MVP from each game,” said Wright. “It’s a great thing to boost morale and the team looks forward to it at the end of each game. Stephany is a defensive player who was taking shot after shot and really holding the circle strong and protecting our goalie.”
Last Wednesday, the Tide hosted Greater Lowell and earned their first “W” of the season, 2-1, which also gave Wright her first career head coaching victory. Junior Caden Sylva once again was named the honorary captain for the contest.
“This was a great game to watch,” said Wright. “You could feel the excitement on the field from the team. Out of the gate we scored our first two goals of the season.”
Malaica Guillaume notched the Tide’s first goal and the second came off the stick of Cephans Orleus.
The MVP award was shared by Lindsey Sylva and Justin Contreras.
“Lindsey is a forward who wanted a goal so badly and nothing was going to stop her and she fought for it,” said Wright. “Unfortunately, she never got that goal, but she did assist on Malaica’s goal and I told her that there are no goals without assists.
“Justin is a freshman defensive player who got his first start in this game and really proved himself by stopping many shots in the circle and carrying the ball out and up to his forwards,” added Wright.
On Friday the Tide made the long trek to Haverhill, a contest for which Guillaume was named the honorary captain.
“This was our third game of the week, so I think that and the long bus ride got to us,” noted Wright. “In the first quarter we gave up four goals. Once we got our legs, we held them for the second quarter, but tiredness got us in the second half when we let up three goals to end with a 7-0 loss.
“Haverhill is a well-established team,” Wright continued. “But the best part of that game was at the end, where even though we got a tough 7-0 loss, there was nothing but laughter and joy from everyone on the team. That to me is the best because no matter what, they are still having a great time and I couldn’t ask for more.”
Midfielder Stephano Orleus was named the game’s MVP. “Stephano ran his heart out to try to get the ball back and take it to the Haverhill goal,” said Wright. “He kept his stick down the whole game to prove that when you keep your stick down, you will come up with the ball every time.”
Wright and her crew were scheduled to face Melrose this past Monday. They will entertain Wakefield today (Wednesday) and on Friday they will support the Crimson Tide football team when they walk from the high school to the stadium for Homecoming Day.
They will entertain Greater Boston League rival Revere next Wednesday.
Level Week for EHS Boys Soccer
The Everett High boys soccer team turned in a level week with a win, a tie, and a loss.
In a battle of unbeatens in the Greater Boston League (GBL), the Crimson Tide dropped a tough 2-1 decision at Revere last Tuesday. The Patriots (who subsequently lost to Chelsea two days later) scored both of their goals on set pieces, a free kick and a corner kick.
“They didn’t test our goalie,” said EHS head coach Pedro Blas. “I think we decided to play long-ball too much and never really got settled.”
Two days later, the Crimson Tide settled for a 3-3 deadlock with Lynn English. “We started out winning 2-0, but we let our guard down,” said Blas. “We were trailing for the rest of the game at 3-2 until the final eight minutes when Kauan Moreira scored the tying goal.”
However, the Crimson Tide concluded the week on a winning note with a 5-1 triumph over non-league opponent Greater Lowell on Friday.
“Bonhomme Dieff scored the goal of the year so far,” said Blas of Bonhomme’s blast from Everett’s own 40-yard line — about a 70-yarder when you count the end zone — that found the back of the Greater Lowell net. “Hopefully we will bring Friday’s energy to our games next week.”
Blas and his crew, who now stand at 4-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the GBL, were scheduled to host Lynn Classical yesterday (Tuesday) and then will travel to Somerville tomorrow (Thursday) for a big GBL match-up with the Highlanders, whom Everett edged by a score of 3-2 in their first game of the season. The Tide will play at Medford next Tuesday and at Malden next Thursday.
EHS Golfers Continue to Show Improvement
Although the Everett High golf team came up short in its two matches this past week against Lynn Classical (48-24) and Lynn English (45-27), EHS head coach Steve Gallagher said his squad has been showing noticeable improvement.
“Despite the losses, we are starting to get better,” said Gallagher. “Players are starting to understand the game more and how it is played in match play format. However, it is clear to see that we will need some more time to right the ship. There still isn’t much experience throughout the team and it is evident out on the course. It’s one day at a time.”
Improving Times for Everett Cross Country
Although the Everett High cross country team came up short in its meets with Greater Boston League (GBL) rivals Lynn English and Chelsea last week at Rivergreen Park, EHS head coach Brendan Hahesy was pleased with his runners’ improving performances.
In the match with Lynn English last Monday, Dawens Germain was the top Crimson Tide finisher, coming across the line in fourth place in a time of 17:25. He was followed by teammates Anthony Whitlow (5th 17:26), Jeremy Whitlow (7th 18:49), Harry Guevara (12th 20:38), and Domenico Delle Rose (13th 24:02).
For the girls, Suzanne Maharjan finished in third place with a clocking of 22:57.
In Thursday’s meet vs. Chelsea, Nischal Tamang led the Crimson Tide with a second place finish in a time of 16:16. Germain came across in fifth place in 16:44, followed by Anthony Whitlow (7th 17:11), David Huezo (9th 18:12), Jeremy Whitlow (10th 18:15), and Lucas Nunez (13th 19:04).
Maharjan finished in fourth place in 21:40 in the girls’ race.
“I was very proud that every person who competed in both meets improved their time,” said Hahesy. “It reflected the hard work and mental toughness of the team.”
Hahesy and his crew are scheduled to make the short trip to Pine Banks to take on GBL foe Malden today (Wednesday).