18-12 contest goes to Woburn

Published April 26, 2019

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ lacrosse team (1-3) fell in a spirited battle against the Woburn Tanners on Tuesday at home at Fred Green Field, 18-12, in a game that was closer than the score would indicate. 

Twenty minutes into their game, Melrose was staring down the barrel of a gun in the form of an 8-0 deficit with nary a glimpse of an offensive spark on hand. But after a time out, a pep talk and some adjustments, Melrose roared back to life, delivering seven unanswered goals to make it a 8-7 score at halftime. Melrose kept their momentum until halfway into the third when they had to contend with Woburn’s Courtney Cronin who scored 5 goals and a tough overall performance from Woburn goalie Sofia Gregory. 

Melrose Junior Emma Randolph scored her 100th career goal as a Lady Raider. (courtesy photo)

The afternoon marked the occasion of Melrose junior Emma Randolph earning her 100th goal as a Lady Raider, and after her 3 goal performance on Tuesday, she now has a personal record of 102 career goals, joining teammate Abby Cunningham who earned that distinction last week.  

Both were on fire on Tuesday, taking command of Melrose offense with 3 goals apiece, along with Lily Cunningham who also had three goals. Melrose had made it a real game towards the latter half of the first when Lily Cunningham hit two shots in a row, followed by Abby with two. Sam Zysk found Randolph in front of the net for a 8-5 score and a penalty shot by Abby Cunningham drew the game closer to 8-6. Lily Cunningham closed it out with a goal that kept Melrose within one at 8-7. But in the second half a joint effort by Lexi Palmisano and Courtney Cronin extended Woburn’s lead to 12-7 and despite another Randolph goal (assisted by Ella Dececca) the Tanners took a 15-8 lead. 

Melrose would see goals from Maggie O’Connell, Ava Palumbo, and Jenna Thorpe in the later stretch of the game with solid assists from Abby Cunningham and Randolph, and Melrose goalie Marie Maher made a quality save at the 13:00 mark, but Woburn’s Emma LaRusso made life tough for the Lady Raiders with two late goals, while Melrose also suffered from push penalties that thwarted their attempt at generating offense. It resulted in a final, 18-12 loss. 

This week, Melrose will begin Freedom League play, including Stoneham, who they host at Fred Green Field on Tuesday under the lights at 7:30 p.m.