SOPHOMORE GOALIE Michael Fuccione has been a “keeper” for the Melrose High boy’s lacrosse team. (photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)

 


Team is 5-3 after a wild win over Watertown

 

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ lacrosse team is enjoying a solid 5-3 record as they approach the halfway mark of their season. On April 27, the girls earned a key league win after edging Watertown 14-12 in a wild victory on the road. Melrose senior captain Ally Maguire notched 6 goals and 2 assists. Senior captain Olivia Galusi had 4 goals and an assist, and Senior defense/mid Jenna Maguire had 2 goals.

Perhaps Melrose’s slow start had to do with a delayed start time, because the Watertown Raiders jumped all over Melrose, amassing a 3 goal lead and held it for much of the entire first half. Says Melrose head coach Matt Galusi, “Our offense started sluggish and our transition game was average at best. We did start to figure things out and found ourselves only down 1 goal heading into halftime.”

But Melrose’s second half was some of the most inspired lacrosse the coach had seen all season. “We came out with a jump in our step and more importantly an attitude that was noticeable,” says the coach. “We just decided that we were not going to be pushed around anymore.”

Melrose defense stepped it up and their midfield and attack took control and responded in a big way. Melrose enjoyed the goals from both Maguires and Galusi, plus Sofia Pitcher, while junior mid Megan Casey contributed to a goal that impressed her coach. “It was the most unselfish assist I’ve seen in a long time,” says Galusi. “Meg chose to pass to Ally [Maguire] off of a free position shot in which she would undoubtedly have scored, so Ally scored ‘Meg’s goal’. She had a very strong performance. Meg was an animal on ground balls and played hard nosed defense all night long.”

A handful of additional Melrose players made the difference, according to Galusi. “Kate Hubbard and Rory Kirby also played great defense down the stretch. Emily Lucien was very solid at the midfield position and Sofia Pitcher played great, aggressive defense.”

The coach tips his cap at his upperclassmen for their overall efforts. “To see three seniors step it up was really great. Ally, Livie and Jenna just would not allow us to lose this game and their play proved it.”

No win is complete without the tireless efforts of the ever-important goalie. And in that respect, sophomore Sophia Hitchman delivered. “When we needed her most down the stretch, Sofia was a brick wall, making save after save some of them at point blank range. Without Sofia between the pipes there is no way we would have won.”

Melrose has a lot of season ahead of them, and while they’re on a winning trajectory, there are areas to work on. “I see us trending in the right direction but we need to clean up our slow starts,” says the coach. “We have been starting slow and digging ourselves into holes that in some cases we simply can’t get out of. I’m impressed with our ball movement and as they develop more confidence in each other, our offense has continued to grow.”

Melrose followed up their Watertown effort with a 15-0 drubbing of Medford on April 28. This game featured goals by multiple Melrose players including Allison Doherty (2) Meghan Maher (2) Jenna Maguire (2) Lucy Clark (2) Olivia Galusi(1) Emily Lucien (1) Ally Maguire (1) Meg Casey (1) Sofia Pitcher (1) and 2 beautiful goals senior goals by defenders Kate Hubbard and Rory Kirby. Says their proud coach, “It was so awesome to see my defenders score goals.” And he credited goaltending efforts by his sophomore.  “Hitchman was a brick mail and earned her second shutout versus Medford this season.”

This week Melrose will travel to Winchester on Wednesday and host Lexington on Friday at 4:15 p.m. The competition will be fierce. Notes the coach, “Needless to say, if we don’t play our best lacrosse we could be in for a long week.”