Everett High School Soccer Weekly Report

By Joe McConnell

Boys starting to pick up frequent points

Over the course of their three most recent games, the Everett High School boys soccer team (2-4-3) went unbeaten with two ties and a win. This run started with a hard-fought 1-1 tie against non-league Methuen on Sept. 20. That positive momentum continued last week with a 3-0 shutout win over Lynn Classical at 7-Acres on Sept. 23. Three days later, Somerville came to Rivergreen to take on the Crimson Tide, and by game’s end both teams walked away with a point after enduring through a scoreless tie.

Second-year Everett coach Rodney Landaverde thinks that his team just might be turning the corner as the calendar flips to October. “We are halfway through the season, and I’m proud of the work that’s coming from our underclassmen. They have stepped up and given the team quality minutes while playing a variety of positions. I’m definitely looking forward to an exciting second half of the season,” said Landaverde.

Of the home game against Lynn Classical, the coach said that “it was a day of building confidence and generating chances,” while adding, “we got off to a great start by maintaining possession and being aggressive.”

Senior captain Gabriel Garcia was the lead playmaker after taking over the left wing. “He was adamant in controlling the game and applying pressure to their defense,” Landaverde said.

Sophomore midfielder Jonathan Hernandez was also very aggressive, and early on in the first half he hit a top corner shot from the edge of the 18-yard box that eluded the Rams goalie to give his teammates the quick lead. It was his second career varsity goal. Junior Whitney Pereira assisted on the score.

The Tide held on to the slim lead throughout the first half. “Junior captain Rene Lainez, sophomore Jason Santos and Pereira were key pieces in feeding passes to their teammates and moving us forward,” said Landaverde, “while the defensive sophomore duo of Pedro Pascoal and Pedro Romero were solid on the backline, which kept us from being scored upon.”

Late in the second half, all of that effort started to pay off when sophomore Christopher Lopez Rivera sent an over-the-top ball to senior striker Kerim Memic, who caught up to it before putting it past the Classical goalkeeper. It was his first career varsity goal.

A couple of minutes later, Memic earned a penalty kick for the team, and Garcia was able to convert the opportunity to seal the deal on this win. At the other end of the pitch, Everett goalie Edwin Menjivar Carbajal was credited with his second clean sheet of the year.

Next up was Somerville last Friday afternoon (Sept. 26), and even though the game ended in a scoreless tie, the Tide had their share of opportunities. “Rene Lainez, and sophomores Daniel Henriquez and Saymon Coelho helped us create some key chances, and all three came very close to scoring, but just couldn’t finish,” said Landaverde. “Freshman Miguel Santos also had great minutes up top to give us a lot to build on. But overall, it was a difficult game for us to just settle for a tie after having some dangerous opportunities at their end of the field. We did, however, see a lot of things that we need to put in our game to continue to improve.”

After games against Medford on Sept. 30 and then Malden two days later (after press deadline), the Everett boys will go up against Chelsea on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 7-Acres, starting at 4:15 p.m. They will then play under the Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium lights, when Revere comes to town two days later (Oct. 9) for a 6:30 p.m. game.

Girls ready to begin the second half pretty much even

The girls team (4-4-1) has virtually an even record at the halfway point of the regular season after ending up in a scoreless tie against Lynn Classical on Sept. 23, before getting shut out by Somerville to close out the road trip last week on Sept. 25, 6-0. There’s not too much to say about the game against the Classical Rams, but Kayla Andrade, Connie Paz Hernandez, goalie Kaylyn Rivera, Melanie Ribeiro and Emelly De Jesus did turn in solid efforts to help their teammates secure at least a point in the Greater Boston League (GBL) standings. “They all played their respective positions very well,” said coach Dom Persuitte.

In the Somerville game, the Everett girls limited the host Highlanders to only one score before halftime. But in the second half, “we made a lot of mistakes,” said Persuitte. “But I’ll give Somerville credit, because they were able to capitalize on all of them.”

Kathleen DeSouza, Odalis Sandoval, Jasmine Morias and Andrade all stood out in the loss to Somerville, according to Persuitte.

Earlier this week (after press deadline), the Tide girls went up against Medford (Sept. 30) and Malden (Oct. 2) to set the stage for two road games next week: versus Chelsea (Oct. 7) and Revere (Oct. 9). Both encounters will begin at 4:15 p.m.