Wins over Belmont, Burlington keep Melrose 7-3-1

Published January 25, 2019

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ hockey team is close to punching a ticket to a postseason thanks to back-to-back wins over Belmont and Burlington last week. The reigning Freedom League champs are back on top of the league at 6-1-1 (7-3-1 overall). To be where they are now—a year after heavy senior loss and a coaching change—is nothing short of remarkable. 

First-year coach Frank Sorrenti can only agree. “We lost an incredible senior class last year and some of our top scorers. I’m sure if you asked anyone if we’d have this record at this point of the season, they would have said no. That being said, with every highlight this season we’ve had our lowlights too. There’s more work to be done.”

Melrose is enjoying leadership from experienced players and new players with raw talent that have made Melrose a team to not overlook this season. Last year’s leading scorer, Emily Crovo, is now a freshman who continues to generate offense with goals and assists. “Emily was the top scorer last year for a reason. She just always performs great,” says her coach. 

THE MELROSE High girls’ hockey team is coming off a 2-game winning streak. (Donna Larsson photo)

Eight grader Mckenzie Cerrato has become a force in the Middlesex League and currently leads Melrose in goals. Cerrato and Crovo are joined on the first line by 8th grader Maggie Pierce, who Sorrenti refers to as a “coach’s dream”. They are proving to be an explosive trio capable of scoring many goals. That was evident in the team’s 8-1 victory over Burlington on January 16. In the game, Cerrato scored twice, Crovo once, while Maggie O’Donnell also had a goal and Marie Maher two assists. Sofia Gukelberger scored her first varsity goal in the game. 

Melrose played a defensive gem when they shut out the Belmont Marauders out 3-0 on Saturday in Belmont. Melrose goalie Courtney O’Connor kept Belmont scoreless over the day and a strong defensive unit, headed by Emma Lynch Galvin, Maggie Doyle and Mairead Clark, took the Marauders out of the game. Sorrenti credited that line. “They are just selfless players on defense. Mairead, our captain, along with fellow captain Linnea Kelley, have become such leaders for us.”

Sorrenti acknowledges that a tough stretch of schedule awaits (Peabody, Reading, Winchester) but that should be considered a good thing. He says, “This will be a measuring stick as to where we fit in the [potential] playoff field.” 

To get there, he’d like to see the team continue to remain defense-focused. Says the coach, “We have some offensively strong teams ahead of us and we’re going to want to continue to shut opponents down.”

That includes Reading, whom they travel to Saturday evening for a night game. Puck drops at Burbank Arena at 8:00 p.m. 

Freedom League Standings               

               League Overall 

Melrose     6-1-1    7-3-1 

Stoneham  6-2-1   6-4-1 

Wakefield  4-4-1    5-6-1 

Wilmington 2-5-2   6-4-7 

Watertown 1–11   1-10-1 

Burlington  0-10-0  0-13 0