Victories over Burlington have Melrose 5-2-1
Published November 13, 2020
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High field hockey team is enjoying a winning and competitive season, with a record of 5-2-1, their best record in several years. On Sat., November 7, they relied on a collective effort to shut out the Burlington Red Devils, 5-0, to remain one of the teams to beat in the Middlesex Freedom League. They followed that up with a repeat 4-1 win on Wednesday (details not available at press time).
“It was a great day for the program yesterday with a pair of wins,” says head coach Erin Parker, who also noted the junior varsity team’s 1-0 victory on Saturday.
In their first meeting against Burlington at home at Fred Green stadium, Melrose saw their goalie Brianna Stanton take the shutout at the net, another excellent outing for the varsity goaltender. Melrose relied on five different goal scorers over the evening. Starting things off was Kalina Piasecki on an assist by Erin Sampson. Meghan Maher scored the second goal, sneaking a shot between the post and the goalie’s pads from the end line. Coach Erin Parker called that one an impressive shot. “My coach always said, ‘make sure if you shoot near post that you score’ and Maher was sure.”
Anna Mackey wrapped up the first quarter scoring to bring Melrose to 3-0. After the half, captain Catherine McCarron got one with a hit from the top of the circle to make it a 4-0 advantage. It was an impressive feat according to coach Parker. “We don’t often score that way so it was great to see the strong shot.”
Finally, captain Morgan Maiani found the back of the net on a pass from Erin Sampson to preserve the 5-0 shutout. Sampson is having an impressive season and is leading the team with assists.
Melrose could have added to the damage but had a slower second half. Fortunately, Stanton held down the fort at the net. “Brianna had three saves,” confirms the coach.
Parker also heralded the work of Caeleigh Corolla on the field. “She gets a shout out this week for her controlled play in the backfield. She made some really nice decisions with the ball that prevented us from getting in dangerous situations by finding the midfielder through a couple of different Burlington players.”
Hot off a winning streak, Melrose will host Wilmington on Saturday morning at Fred Green Field at 9:30 a.m. Their season will close out on Nov. 21 on the road against Wilmington.
