Third straight tourney appearance for Lady Raiders
Published in the February 19, 2016 edition
HELPING CELEBRATE Senior Night for the Lady Raider hockey team were their seniors and families. Even better was a win that day to qualify for post season. Pictured: Peter and Cheryl Henry (Michelle Henry), Ann Perry (Katy Perry) Lisa & Sean Gorman (Alyssa Gorman) and Jeff and Shawna Kendall (Kellianne Kendall).
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—For the third straight season the Melrose High School girls varsity hockey team is heading to the MIAA Div. 1 North playoffs.
The Lady Raiders rode a two game victory this week to help earn their 11th win of the season and clinch the twenty points needed towards qualification. By beating Stoneham and Medford, Melrose, 9-7 in the ML Freedom League, also sits squarely in second place in the league as the regular season winds down.
“Our goal, just like the past two years, was to make tournament,” said a proud Melrose head coach Sam Tetreau. “This was something they worked on since the beginning of the season to achieve.”
Melrose began the winning streak on Saturday when they hosted Stoneham at the Flynn Rink in Medford to celebrate Senior Day to honor their four upperclassman: Katy Perry, Michelle Henry, Alyssa Gorman and Kellianne Kendall. It is the perfect way to honor their long running athletes by earning a close 3-2 win that officially clinched a Melrose playoff spot.
Just two days later on February 15, Melrose overwhelmed Medford, 7-0 at Flynn Rink thanks to a hat trick by Melrose’s Rachel DiFraia and a shutout by Courtney O’Connor at the net. Melrose simply overwhelmed the Mustangs in scoring, beginning in the first when Jill Mercer scored five minutes into the game to make it 1-0. At 6:49 Rachel DiFraia scored with assists by Sam Kroon and Darby Rich to help Melrose lead 2-0 at the end of the first. At 6:20 in the second Sam Kroon scored on assists by Rachel DiFraia and Saoirse Connolly. That was followed by an unassisted goal by DiFraia at 8:15. Melrose made it a 5-0 game at 12:39 in the second when DiFraia struck again with assists by Kroon and Connolly. Melrose took that lead into the third when Jill Mercer scored at 6:51 and Michelle Henry scored at 9:56 on an assist by DiFraia to finish the game up 7-0.
Next on tap is a regular season finale against Bishop Fenwick on Sunday, February 21 at 9:00 a.m. at O’Keefe Rink in Peabody. Playoff brackets will not be released until February 27. No doubt the Lady Raiders will be ready and looking to maintain momentum as they begin another exciting post season; their third straight in their third year of existence. Credit to Melrose and their coaching staff to creating what is now come to be a bit of playoff staple.
Says their coach, “I’m very proud of their passion and determination.”
