THE MELROSE High girls hockey team celebrates their 7-4 victory over Concord Carlisle on Monday. (photo by Raj Das, edphotos.com)
Takes a 7-4 win over Concord Carlisle
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MEDFORD—The Melrose High girls’ hockey team picked up their first win of the season with a solid 7-4 victory over traveling Concord Carlisle on Monday, Jan. 16.
Melrose freshman Julia McNeely earned her first varsity hat trick with an impressive three-goal performance. It was also a great game for junior captain Lucy Clark who had a goal and three assists and Zoe Blackburn, a 7th grader who scored her first varsity goal.
Melrose coach Frank Sorrenti credited his team, and McNeely, for her hat trick. “Julia has had a good season and started at center on one of our top two lines…we recently moved her to left wing and she seems to have picked up her game. And Zoe’s goal with a blast from the right was impressive.”
The coach considered Concord-Carlisle a worthy opponent. “They had two very skilled forwards and one puck-carrying defensemen and challenged us throughout. They tested our defense and goaltender,” he says.
Melrose took the early lead with two scores by McNeely in the first period, but Concord-Carlisle bounced back with two goals only seven seconds apart during the last minute of the first period. McNeely’s third goal gave Melrose the lead 3-2 going into the first intermission.
The second period was where Melrose won the game, outscoring Concord-Carlisle, 4-1, in the second session to hold a 7-3 lead heading to the final period.
Captain Lucy Clark led the way with a goal and two assists in that frame. The third period was back and forth with Concord-Carlisle scoring with about nine minutes left in the game, but Melrose defense and goaltending remained solid to secure the victory.
“Once again Ruby [Hanson] was outstanding in the net,” says coach Sorrenti. “She made several huge saves. Our defense was good overall—we’re still very young on defense and it still shows from time-to-time, but we made some positional changes moving Keira Twomey to defense. She and Teagan Holdsworth-Altma, Addison Savidge and Zoe Blackburn played very well. Despite her youth Zoe is aggressive and instinctive and has what it takes to be an impact player for us down the road.”
He continues. “We made our goals count yesterday. The seven-goal output was our highest over the last two seasons. We need to continue to develop our offense and better our defensive zone coverage. I am very proud of my team. This is a tough situation for a young player to navigate…there are some teams in our league we just cannot compete with (yet)…despite this, our girls continue to battle. Our team has met adversity head on, fought through it and come out better for it on the other side. We will continue to do that as we work hard to rebuild our program,” he says.
Melrose will hit the road for travel games to Shawsheen and Winchester before hosting Lexington on Sat. January 28 at noon.
