Everett Crimson Tide Sports Weekly Notebook

By Joe McConnell

Boys’ soccer unbeaten in last six games

As the regular season is winding down, the Everett High School boys’ soccer team (4-4-4) is warming up at the right time. They are unbeaten in their last six games, including wins over Medford (1-0) and Chelsea (4-3) to go along with tying host Malden (2-2).

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the Crimson Tide welcomed the Mustangs to 7-Acres. “There was not much action going on by either team in this game,” said second-year coach Rodney Landaverde.

But Landaverde did mention that sophomore Saymon Coelho earned a penalty kick after being knocked down in the box, and wasted no time to capitalize on the opportunity to give his teammates the lead that they never relinquished. But the game soon reverted back to missed scoring chances.

“We just couldn’t put (Medford) away, but on a positive note we were able to maintain a calm pace, while still rotating players in and out of the game,” said Landaverde.

Edwin Menjivar Carbajal was once again crucial in net for the home team. “He was the vocal leader of our backline, which helped him earn his fourth clean sheet of the season,” said Landaverde. “He has shown a lot of growth this season, and I can only see him doing even better in future games.”

Two days later in Malden, the Golden Tornadoes took an early 1-0 lead, but the visitors quickly bounced back, when Kevin Renderos sent a cross to sophomore Daniel Henriquez, who headed home a fantastic shot to tie up the proceedings.

“It was an intense matchup early on that had the boys ready for the second half,” said Landaverde. “We created scoring chances at the beginning of the second half, but also gave up a goal on a penalty kick after being called for a handball in the box that put Malden back in front.”

But with four minutes remaining in the game, Whitney Pereira was driving up field, when he saw captain Gabriel Garcia get behind a defender and the goalie. Pereira quickly hit him with a pass that resulted in the game tying goal.

“It was a game in which we should have won given the opportunities that we created for ourselves, but unfortunately it’s all about capitalizing on them,” said Landaverde.

After beginning this week with that aforementioned win over Chelsea, the Everett boys took on Revere at home on Oct. 9 after press deadline. They were then scheduled to go up against non-league powerhouse BC High on its Dorchester campus Saturday morning (Oct. 11) at 11 a.m., before returning home to play host to Lynn Classical under the Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium lights on Tuesday night (Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m.).

Girls’ soccer looks to snap scoring drought

The Everett High School girls’ soccer team (4-7-1) lost its last four games, which puts them behind the proverbial eight ball as the regular season is coming to a close. The Tide needs to get back to at least the .500 mark to qualify for the Division 1 state playoffs.

The Everett girls began last week with a loss to host Medford, 5-0 on Sept. 30.

“Medford played a very good game, and was able to capitalize on our mistakes,” said coach Dom Persuitte. “The second half of this game was much better for us. We had a few more scoring opportunities, but to no avail.”

After the game, Persuitte singled out the efforts of Kayla Andrade for her drive and aggressiveness, hoping her teammates took notice. “We need both of those traits as a team to get back on track,” he said.

Two days later, the Tide came back home to 7-Acres to play host to Malden, and ended up losing by the exact same score.

But once again, the Tide picked up the pace in the second half, led by senior goalie Gabriella Menjivar, who showcased her aggressiveness to make the tough stop, according to Persuitte.

The home team, however, still had trouble generating offense, notwithstanding Andrade. “She turned in another fine game,” said Persuitte. The coach also praised Johanna Flores for doing an excellent job in trying to disrupt the Malden defense. “Her ability to stay on their center-back helped us out a lot,” he said. “She was able to cause them to lose control of the ball on multiple occasions.”

The Everett girls were scheduled to play only one game this week, and it was a 2-0 loss to host Chelsea on Oct. 7. They are now in the middle of having a week off, before getting back into action on Tuesday, Oct. 14, under the Manning Field lights against host Lynn English at 5:45 p.m.

Volleyball team shows positive signs

The Tide volleyball team (2-10) has lost their last seven matches, but coach Mike Fineran says that they are still working hard to get back on track.

“We have had our share of ups and downs all season long, and that was definitely true in last week’s matches against Malden and Chelsea,” Fineran said. “At times, we played very well like jumping out to a 16-4 lead against Chelsea and winning the third set against Malden. But then, we had lapses of four or five points in a row, which was difficult to overcome. As a result, we ended up dropping both these matches by identical 3-1 scores.”

Nicole Damaceno is the captain of this year’s team. Juliette Romboli and Amanda Verteiro are the assistant captains.

“Damaceno has been our most reliable server all year long, hitting on 95% of her 133 serves,” said Fineran, “while Romboli leads the team in aces and kills, and Verteiro has been a steady defensive presence in the back row.”

The Everett coach also mentioned that senior Shaeendra Hall (eight kills) and sophomore Elora Phillippe (nine kills) were among the team’s offensive leaders against Chelsea.

“We are naturally disappointed with our record, but we expected the competition in the GBL to be strong,” Fineran said. “Somerville and Revere are having solid seasons, while Malden and Lynn Classical are always strong. When our attackers are taking good swings, we hang in there, but when our passes or hits are off, other teams have taken advantage of it to pull away.

“But we continue to battle, and our energy has been good all year. No matter the opponent or the score, I expect that we will continue to keep on fighting,” added the Everett coach.

Their lone two wins this year came against Chelsea and Lynn English last month at the EHS gym.

The Everett girls started off this week with a loss to Lynn Classical at home on Oct. 6. They then faced Lynn English on the road two days later after press deadline, before closing out the week at home on Friday, Oct. 10, against non-league Lawrence, beginning at 5:15 p.m.

Youthful golfers experience growing pains

The Everett High golfers (0-9) recently lost to Lynn Classical (33.5-11.5, Sept. 23), Medford (55-17, Sept. 30) and Malden (58-14, Oct. 6).

“We are an inexperienced team this year that continues to battle hard, while learning the varsity game against our league peers,” said coach Dave Peach.

Since then, the Tide took on Somerville (Oct. 7) and Lynn Classical (Oct. 9) at Stoneham Oaks to wrap up the regular season after press deadline.

“In our matches against Lynn Classical and Medford, we played well, but their added years of experience ended up defeating us,” said Peach, “and basically the same thing happened against Malden. Other teams simply have more experience right now, but we are gaining traction, while continuing to improve.”

Charles Govostes and Raymond Blauvelt are this year’s Tide captains.

Everett boys stay on course to make history

For the first time in at least 15 years, the Everett High School boys cross-country team (3-1) defeated Malden. The Oct. 1 victory also keeps them on pace for a winning record.

“We showed a great deal of mental toughness running in our third meet in seven days,” said coach Brendan Hahesy after this history-making event.

Senior captain Lucas Nunez (17:19) led the way by winning his fourth GBL meet in a row to help lead his teammates to victory over the Golden Tornadoes.

Jeremy Whitlow (18:31, third), Anthony Whitlow (18:44, fourth), Christopher Portillo (19:10, fifth) and Carlos Pagan (19:43, 10th) were right behind Nunez to collectively produce the upset win.

Domenico Delle Rose (19:48, 12th), Wilmer Fuentes (19:53, 13th), Raakin Shrestha (20:23, 17th), Bryan Lewis (20:53, 18th), Anthoid Khanal (21:04, 20th), Dante Gell (22:12, 25th), Michael Lemus (22:46, 29th) and Brasesh Maharjan (24:51, 33rd) also participated in the boys race.

In the girls meet that day, senior captain Akanksha Neupane came out on top for the first time ever in her varsity career.

After Neupane (22:33) broke the tape, Shashi Pokhrel (25:51, sixth) and Nathalia Cesario (27:23, eighth) followed her across the finish line to account for Top 10 performances.