SENIOR CAPT. James Haggerty fires away against Beverly in a recent, non-league contest. (Jennifer Gentile photo)
2022 has Red Raiders seeking wins
By JENNIFER GENTILE
STONEHAM—The Melrose High boys’ varsity hockey team is trying to find their rhythm after entering 2022 with back-to-back losses over the holiday break. Melrose (0-5) hopes to bounce back as they gear up to play Wakefield on Sunday, Jan. 9 at noon at Stoneham Arena.
It doesn’t help that their most recent contests have been canceled for COVID-19 concerns (that don’t stem from the Red Raiders themselves.) Melrose was slated to play Medford and Watertown this week, two teams Melrose has had past success with, only to have them postponed this week. Melrose was able, however, to get two games in against quality competition in the form of Beverly and league rival Stoneham shortly after Christmas.
On Wed. Dec. 29 Melrose hosted a competitive Beverly team at the Stoneham Arena and played an evenly-matched contest in the first but allowed goals in second thanks to the Panther’s Jeff Hallinan who scored in the opening minute of the stanza, followed by a late second-period goal from Beverly’s David Bachini. Melrose hit the scoreboard in the third courtesy of a goal by junior Colin Fahey (with an assist by senior captain TJ Sullivan) but wasn’t able to find the net beyond it.
Melrose head coach Vin Mirasolo didn’t hide his disappointment after the game. Melrose, he thought, didn’t put maximum effort into the game. “For us to be competitive, our effort has to be exceptional every shift, and it wasn’t.”
The Red Raiders were more competitive against rival Stoneham on Saturday, Jan 1 as they rang in the new year, yet fell 5-2. The Spartans are a team Melrose frequently battles against for league titles, and this game appeared competitive from the outset, especially after Melrose took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Pat Cotter goal on an assist by Jack Wright, who came out supercharged for the game. Melrose’s second goal was scored by Colin Fahey with an assist from Tyler Muse. But those goals were upped by a quartet from Stoneham scorers, Joe Aronis with 2 goals, Dan Storella, Joe Kranefuss and Cam Schinnick all with one. The last goal was an empty netter.
Says Mirasolo, “I thought we played well in that [first] period but we got away from things we should be doing.” He did offer credit to his tandem goalie pair of Joey Smith and Matthew Fuccione. “They’ve been very good. They’re the reason our goals-against are where they stand.”
In order for Melrose to flip the switch and turn their season into a winning one, the work begins now. Consistency and extra effort will be key to turning things around. Notes the coach, “Let’s just work hard as a team on all three lines. It has to be a total team effort.”
