At mid-season 4-2 Melrose is power ranked high
THERE IS plenty to celebrate for the MHS girls’ lacrosse team. They just picked up two big wins over Wakefield and Billerica. (Photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ lacrosse team could be poised to see an extended spring season thanks to some recent wins and a healthy Top 20 power ranking.
Melrose is 4-2 on the season with a lot of games left, and their most recent win came against Billerica who they beat at home on Tuesday, 13-10, and rival Wakefield, who Melrose defeated 13-10 in a competitive contest on April 24.
“The Wakefield win was a good win, one the girls deserved for how hard they fought to come back,” said Melrose head coach Alicia Geiter. “Wakefield is extremely fast and has a very talented midfield.”
It was a big day for Melrose senior captain Alison Doherty, who had four goals for the team.
Says her coach, “Alison put them away at key points in the game and was such a great team player, setting her girls up for success.”
Another player who came up big against the Warriors was Chloe Arnold, who had three big goals. “Chloe continues to make waves,” says coach Geiter.
Melrose didn’t take a lead until the last quarter in what amounted to be a comeback win. “This one really didn’t turn until late third and fourth quarter,” says Geiter. “Wakefield was in it until the very end.”
At net, Melrose goalie Sophia Hitchman came up big once again. “Sophia did great,” says the coach “She’s always our rock and a very steady player.”
Meanwhile, Melrose defense made a big difference in the win, starting with senior Emily Lucien. “Defense in general made huge stops with all of our starting defense making massive plays,” notes coach Geiter. “Emily is so versatile we saw her all over the field with Keira (Brophy) Alex (Leeman) and Kayla (Good) having her back.”
And just this past Tuesday, Melrose made it two in a row with an impressive 13-10 win over Billerica. Chloe Arnold had five goals in the game, a record for the new player.
Says her coach, “Billerica is a great team and their coaches are top tier. They are fierce competitors you can’t treat lightly.”
It was a back and forth game that saw Melrose score three goals early, benefitting from Arnold’s goals and strong draw control from Jill Frawley and Anna Matthew. “We had a great rotation of players and plan to continue to try to switch things up and help alleviate some strain on players. Our defense was strong. Transitions looked better,” reports the coach.
So far, leading the season on goals are Alison Doherty, Jill Frawley and Chloe Arnold, with each usually average at least two goals a game. Says the coach, “We really aren’t a one man show and the selflessness those three show to their teammates is amazing. They know when to give and take,” says their coach.
There is a lot of season left – eleven more games – but Melrose is sitting pretty in power rankings, currently 17th in Div. 2. And it could go up.
“It’s great where we are. However rankings change and we can’t rest our laurels on it,” says the coach. “The goal is to obviously keep rising in the ranks and taking our team as far as we can. This was a great confidence boost for the girls and they should be proud because it’s their hard work that put us there.”
And as they embark on tough Middlesex Large competition on the horizon, there are things they’d like to fine tune.
“We’d like to focus on transition,” says the coach. “It’s all about fine tuning our skills and really owning what we’re good at and knowing where our faults are. Now is the time of the season to hunker down work on ourselves.”
Melrose will travel to Arlington on Friday and host Woburn on Wednesday, May 8 at 4:15 p.m.
