Everett Crimson Tide Sports Weekly Notebook

By Joe McConnell

Volleyball nails down third win on Teachers Appreciation Night

The Everett High School girls volleyball team (3-15) snapped a long losing streak last week with a thrilling, come-from-behind 3-2 win over Medford on Teachers Appreciation Night (Oct. 15).

“We had played well in stretches throughout the past month, almost taking sets from teams in the upper echelon of the GBL like Lynn Classical, Malden and Revere, but just couldn’t get over the hump,” said coach Michael Fineran. “We finally did that against Medford, even though it looked like the same script was going to play out early on.

“There were many bright spots that produced this victory,” added Fineran. “Junior MariaJose Cardenas had five serves in a row in the first set, and was able to come up with two aces. Senior Leliani Ros-Morales was nine-for-nine in serves throughout the first two sets, which also included two kills. Assistant captain Juliette Romboli had three aces and five kills early on in the win. She also had five more kills in the third set. Senior Lindsey Cherichel-Paul chipped in with two kills and a block, before junior Melissa Mereiles served up the winning point. One of Ros-Morales’ serves put us up 6-0 in one set. Junior libero Cassandra Tayag made six successful serves to widen the gap to 13-1. Senior captain Nicole Damaceno served the last two points, which included an ace that forced us to play our first fifth set tiebreaker of the year. Tayag and Damaceno then combined for four aces and eight service points in the last set. Romboli had two kills, and senior Aya Selimovic came up with her second block in as many sets to help secure the 15-8 victory.

“It was a special win on a special day. Our spirits had remained high throughout the season, never showing signs of quitting, and to finally have that effort rewarded against Medford really felt great.”

The Everett girls almost pulled off back-to-back five set home wins last Friday night (Oct. 17) against Saugus, but fell short, 15-9.

“We are not going to make the state tournament, but the atmosphere in the (EHS) gym was like playing in the playoffs, and it was fun to be a part of,” said Fineran.

Tayag served eight times in the opening set, while Romboli accounted for five kills to help the team secure the early 25-20 win.

“But we were not as sharp in the second set, falling 25-16. We did rally to take the third set, 25-22,” said Fineran.

Damaceno served five in a row in that third set to turn a 20-17 deficit into a lead, while junior QiongQiong Chen served the final two successful points. Sophomore Elora Philippe had six kills, a block and an ace in the final three sets, including four kills in the fifth set, before the team’s luck ran out in this non-league match against the Sachems.

Senior captain Nicole Damaceno was a perfect 13-for-13 in serves that also included an ace. Senior assistant captain Amanda Verteiro was 11-for-13 in serves with four aces. Senior assistant captain Juliette Romboli was 8-for-11 with three aces and nine kills. Sophomore Elora Philippe collected seven kills.

Boys’ soccer misses out on the playoffs

Prior to the game against Lynn English at Rivergreen on Tuesday night, Oct. 14, the Everett High School boys’ soccer team (5-8-4) honored its seniors for their contributions to the program the last four years.

But once the game began, it was a close encounter throughout, which resulted in a 2-1 loss for the home team.

“We started off pretty well, moving the ball and connecting on passes up and down (the pitch),” said second-year coach Rodney Landaverde. “Freshman Miguel Santos, junior Rene Lainez and Kevin Renderos started off really well, moving the ball efficiently to give us scoring opportunities as our midfielders.”

The first half ended in a scoreless tie, but adjustments were made at halftime. Unfortunately, Lynn English took advantage of two unexpected opportunities to take the lead. But with 10 minutes left, Landaverde called a timeout to switch up formations in order to go all-out in an attempt to get back into the game, and a couple of minutes later, the strategy paid off, when senior captain Gabriel Garcia was able to complete a scoring play, which was assisted by Saymon Coelho.

In the final minutes of the game, sophomore Jonathan Hernandez went down the sideline, before taking a shot, which bounced off the keeper’s hands to Coelho, who apparently had tied up the game at two, but instead the referee whistled the Tide for being offsides, nullifying the goal. They couldn’t muster up much of an offense after that, and ended up dropping a heartbreaker to the visiting Bulldogs.

Two nights later at Lynn’s Manning Field, the Crimson Tide was able to beat the Rams, the other Lynn squad that plays in the Greater Boston League (GBL), 3-1.

“We played a really good game, and got on the board quickly in the first half on a goal by Garcia from Rene Lainez,” said Landaverde. “We continued to build up momentum in the second half that created multiple chances.”

Senior Lucas Rabelo Araujo, who has since come back from an MCL sprain, was able to finish off one of those opportunities to account for the team’s second score. A couple of minutes later, senior Kerim Memic subbed-in and turned in a fantastic finish on a quick shot from Santos. The Rams were then awarded a penalty kick that got them on the scoreboard for the first, and only time in the game.

The Everett boys needed that win to remain in the postseason hunt, but earlier this week on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Somerville’s Dilboy Stadium, the Highlanders escaped with a slim 2-1 win, which eliminated them from the state tournament. But they still had one more final regular season game left on the schedule against the host Medford Mustangs two days later after press deadline. Details on these two games will be in next Friday’s Everett Advocate.

Girls’ soccer mirrors boys’ season right to the end

The Everett girls’ (5-8-2) were basically in the same boat last week as their counterparts on the boys’ team. They too needed to basically win out to grab a playoff berth.

It started off well with a 2-0 road win over the Lynn English Bulldogs under the lights at Lynn’s Manning Field on Oct. 14.  Kayla Andrade netted the first goal from Sofia Arana-Quintanilla. Odalis Sandoval on a free kick notched the insurance tally setup by Lavina Simon.

“After we scored the first goal, everything was clicking, and the team was doing everything it was supposed to do to win the game,” said coach Dom Persuitte.

The Tide then returned to 7-Acres to host Lynn Classical two days later, and it ended up turning into a classic, with both teams battling to a 1-1 tie.

“We played phenomenal soccer in the first half, while having the wind blow in our faces,” said Persuitte. “Overall, it was basically a back-and-forth game. Lynn scored first in the first half on a questionable goal that the referee claimed the ball went across the line.”

The Everett girls started to pick up the pace in the last seven minutes of the half, and eventually Sofia Arana-Quintanilla scored the equalizer after beating the Classical defenders, before slotting the ball past the right post.

Persuitte singled out Liv Simon, Jasmine Morais and Odalis Sandoval for their contributions to this well-earned tie. “Morais, in particular, has been an excellent addition to the squad after being brought up from the JVs,” added the veteran coach. “Goalie Gabriella Menjivar, despite allowing a goal, also played well. She also saved what would have been the game-winner on a breakaway with about five minutes left in regulation. Her timing on coming out of the net to make the save was perfect. She got to the ball, before the Lynn forward went tumbling over her. I couldn’t have asked for a better (stop) that prevented us from losing the game. It was the textbook definition on how to make a one-on-one breakaway save.”

The Tide began this week with consecutive losses to Revere (3-1, Oct. 20) and Somerville (6-0, Oct. 21), which basically eliminated them from the playoffs. They then went up against visiting Medford on Oct. 23 after press deadline, before non-league Lowell comes to Rivergreen to face the locals on Tuesday night, Oct. 28, to wrap up the regular season, starting at 6 p.m.