Top rival Wakefield, 11-7
By JENNIFER GENTILE
WAKEFIELD—The Melrose High girls’ lacrosse team is playing their best game at the right time, and are now winners of three in a row after beating rival Wakefield, 11-7, on Tuesday on the road at Landrigan Field.
They are also currently power rated at #17 in Div. 2 rankings and poised to see a post season.
Against the Warriors, Melrose broke out in the second half with five straight goals to pull away from a 5-5 tie with 21 minutes left in the game. Leading in scoring for Melrose was Alison Doherty with 6 goals. Also coming up key was Cailan MacDonald with two, Megan Casey with two and Jillian Frawley with one.
It was a busy first five minutes in the game with Melrose taking a 3-2 lead early over Wakefield, who benefitted from the goal tending of Sofia Macaluso. In the Melrose net, Sofia Hitchman had a great day with several key saves.
Cailan MacDonald gave Melrose a 4-3 lead going into halftime. But Wakefield would tie it up 5-5 with twenty one minutes left in the game, yet thanks to dominating faceoff work by Jill Frawley and Sofia Pitcher, Melrose was in cruise control and scored five times in a row, behind Doherty and Megan Casey, who scored to make it 7-5. Doherty used a dodge to score to make it 9-5 and Melrose began to wear out Wakefield defense. Cailan MacDonald scored Melrose’s 10th goal and some great passing up front helped set up the last goal of the game, when Doherty snuck one in from the short side off an assist by Jill Frawley. Hitchman made a key save at 2:30 and Melrose defense did the rest.
Melrose coach Matt Galusi credited the team after the game, particularly his defense. “We’ve transitioning the ball extremely well and scoring fast break goals. I need to credit my defense for these last 3 wins they have risen to the challenge and not backed down from any opponent. Emily Lucien, Lindsay Teeven, Sophia Galusi and Alex Leeman along with Kiera Brophy have played excellent defense and really made our opponents work for any goals. That D in front of Hitchman has really gelled as of late and I couldn’t be happier.”
And one of his leading scorers, Alison Doherty, is getting the job done with 16 goals in three games. “Alison Doherty has been huge with the goals and assists. A much needed spark on the attack line and we hope she keeps it going.”
The win comes on a 16-10 victory over Arlington on May 10. In the game, Alison Doherty had 4 goals, Jill Frawley, Megan Casey, Cailan MacDonald and Sofia Pitcher all chipped in with goals as well. At the net, Hitchman was huge in the down the stretch making saves late in the game and thwarting any comeback attempt by Arlington. She had 11 saves.
Notes the coach, “Arlington was a physical, scrappy team and they pushed us around a little. We adjusted our offensive attack and used Arlington’s aggression against them to exploit large holes in their defense.”
Right now, if Melrose keeps pace they will see a post season and it should be a competitive one. Says Galusi, “We’re taking a page from the Patriots playback, one game at a time–one day at a time.”
This Friday they host Stoneham at 4:15 p.m. when they hope to make it four in a row.