Eagles swimmers continue winning ways over Northeast, Austin Prep

  The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (MVRCS) Eagles Swimming team ran its record to 4-0 with wins over Northeast and non-league foe Austin Prep. MVRCS downed Northeast 91-61 and outscored the Cougars, 97-68.

  Against Northeast, freshman Adrian Chang started the individual events and the first Eagles 1-2-3 finish in the 200 freestyle; coming in second and third were Junior Daniel Nguyen and eighth-grader Isabelle Pennachio. Junior Ramy El-Aafer continued in the 200 individual medley (IM) with a first-place finish and lifetime best in the event. Coming in second and third were freshmen Thomas Sodeyama-Cardoso and Lana Santos-Albuquerque. In the 50 freestyle, sophomore Jason Yan took top honors; junior Jeremy Cheng was first in the 100 freestyle, breaking the 50-second barrier, and freshman Jayden Anthony continued his phenomenal start as an Eagle by winning the 500 freestyle.

  The Eagle relays continued to excel and improve, achieving either a state or sectional cut on both the boy’s and girl’s sides in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relays and the 400 freestyle relay. Through the first three meets, all relays on both sides have gained state cuts; individually six Eagles have already stamped their ticket to the state meet.

  Starting off the meet in home waters against Austin Prep, the Eagles medley relay of Cheng, Anthony, freshman Kevin Sodeyama-Cardoso and junior Armando Indresano took first, and the team of eighth-grader Dylan Phan, senior Matthew Loue, Thomas Sodeyama-Cardoso and Nguyen took third. In the next event, the 200 freestyle, Aiden Acuna, swimming in his first meet this year, absolutely obliterated the competition to a state cut time of 1:50.40 to win the event. Aiden’s time is also a top three time in the history of Mystic Valley swimming. Chang came in third with a lifetime best, and Santos-Albuquerque came in fourth in another lifetime best.

  In the 200 IM, Yan continued a great start to the season, winning in a state cut time of 2:12.05. Cheng tacked on first-place finishes in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke; his breaststroke time was another state cut for Jeremy. Armando Indresano added two wins in the 50 and 100 freestyles, both in state cuts. In the 500 freestyle, junior Aiden Acuna-Rosa flew out to an over 30-second lead on the field in a state cut of 5:00.87, his second fastest swim ever.

  “I couldn’t ask for a better way to finish the first couple of weeks of the season; every swimmer came out to win today and it was a total team effort. The veterans on this team truly stepped up to the plate today as we can see with Jeremy, Aiden and Armando’s swims. Aiden particularly came out fast being it was his first swims of the year due to illness keeping him out of the first three meets. I am extremely happy that all of his hard work is continuing to pay off,” Coach Andrew DiGiacomo said following the Austin Prep win.

Eagles boys’ basketball team battles hard in defeat to Whittier, 59-51

  The MVRCS boys’ varsity basketball team (2-1) dropped its first game of the young season to Whittier Tech of Haverhill, 59-51, before a supportive home crowd in Malden. This hard-fought contest was a game of runs from beginning to end, as both teams battled back and forth from the opening tap through the final whistle. The Eagles led early in the game, thanks to a combination of fast break points and accurate outside shooting.

  Leading the way for the Maroon & Gold were junior point guard Michael Tayag and junior forward Giovanni Soto with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Also part of the scoring parade was freshman guard Dalton Kinnon (8), sophomore center Jonathan Saint-Vil (4) and senior forward Brandon Paris (4).

  “I’m proud of the team’s effort from a work ethic standpoint,” Head Coach Tony Ferullo said. “These student-athletes never give up, no matter what the score. From a coach’s perspective, I cannot ask for anything more than that.”

Lady Eagles basketball team falls to Northeast

  The MVRCS girls’ basketball team dropped a 41-29 decision in Wakefield to Northeast Metro Tech, dropping their record to 1-2.

  Looking to bounce back from a road loss and build off of their defense, they came out aggressive in the early going. The game plan to get the ball inside to their captain senior Mairead St. Clair (6 pts., 8 rebounds and 3 blocks) and play an in-and-out game worked to a 12-8 first quarter advantage. In the second quarter, Northeast applied more pressure, but the Eagles moved the ball well enough to take a 17-8 edge midway through. The Knights countered and brought the game back within one possession as the halftime horn sounded, 17-15 Mystic Valley.

  The tale of two halves has hurt the Eagles so far in three games, as they came out slow offensively and found it tougher to get stops; still, by the end of the quarter St. Clair and freshman Bailey DeLeire were able to find the scorebook and junior Sofia Blandino came in to make an immediate impact on offense and defense. The Knights’ edge was 30-24 going into the fourth.

  The Eagles were slowed down by Northeast’s pressure half-court defense and could not find early rhythm in the quarter. Northeast took to the glass and made more plays than Mystic, edging them 13-5. Mystic – in some foul trouble – looked to their bench for some of the fourth and got production from senior Darnelle Felisier (2 pts., 1 steal) and junior Jojo Tu (3 pts., 1 assist).

  “There still is a lot of work to be done for this team being early in the season and coming off a missed year. So far, the girls have been great opening up games and executing the game plan to our advantage. It’s sustaining that play for 32 full minutes and not going away from things that work because the other team makes adjustments,” Head Coach Jonathan Currier said.

Hockey Eagles split two versus Medford, East Boston

  The Eagles coop hockey team kept scoreboard operators busy in their two games this week, allowing 11 goals in defeat before exploding for 17 to clinch their first victory of the young season.

  In the 11-2 setback to Medford, senior Shamus Royds and sophomore Lukas Deguire both found themselves all over the ice in attempting to slow down the Mustang attack.

  The Tide’s offense was on full display in a 17-2 shellacking on East Boston as Deguire registered one goal and four assists; Royds contributed three assists; and junior defenseman Riya Tanizaki lit the lamp for the first time in his high school career, scoring once and adding an assist. Sophomore defenseman Jonathan Brandano turned in a stellar performance, not allowing the Jets to cross the blue line for most of the contest.