THE MHS boy’s soccer team has reason to smile: they earned their third straight league title. (Jennifer Gentile photo)
#6 seed Melrose is ready for playoffs
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boys’ soccer team is once again league champs.
For the third year in the row, Melrose has topped all league rivals and have been crowned the 2022 Freedom League winners after amassing an overall record of 12-4-2, and 7-1-2 in the league.
Melrose secured the title by taking a 1-0 shutout win over Wilmington at home on Sunday, Oct. 30. They will enter playoffs this week highly seeded at 12-4-2. Playoff brackets were released Wednesday and No. 6 seed Melrose is slated to play the winner of No. 27 Chicopee and No. 38 Grafton at some point over the weekend at home, with the possibility of two home games for Melrose. At press time, details were not announced so fan should visit the MIAA’s website and our social media pages.
Against Wilmington, Melrose’s Tyler Lecomte scored early on an assist by Joey Beshel and that was the only score needed for Melrose to shutout the Wildcats, 1-0. Melrose goalie Aiden Heipler preserved the shutout at the net. Melrose had a clean sheet held by Ian Smith, Sam O’Donnell, Chris Weldon and Daniel Muller.
PLAYERS LIKE Amir Lahkiky are the reason the Melrose High boy’s soccer team has earned a league title and remain highly ranked as they enter post season. (Jennifer Gentile photo)
Coach Dean Serino saluted his team for getting the job done. “I thought Wilmington was a good team with solid defense. All these games in the Freedom are competitive and tight, and this was no exception. I was proud of the way we played, I thought Chris Weldon, Russell O’Donnell and Ian Smith played excellent and it might have been Amir [Lahkiky’s] best game of the season. And Aiden had a great game at the net.”
Previously, Melrose had experienced two uncharacteristic losses against Newton South on Friday and Stoneham last Thursday. In the 2-1 Spartan loss, Melrose scored a lone goal courtesy of Jovan Ssebugwawo on an assist by Rory Coyne. But they were able to rebound and clinch the Wildcat victory to assure the league title over a competitive Wakefield team.
Says Serino, “We played 4 games in 6 days and that might have taken a bit of a toll, but I’m happy with how we played against Newton South. We carried a lot of the play actually, so it’s not like we’re going to get out-skilled by anyone. We get a bit of a re-set now and can focus on playoffs.”
Melrose’s opponent remains to be seen, but the boys will get a home game to start, possibly Saturday or Sunday, and perhaps one after that, something that the boys are thrilled by.
“They want to pack the stands. Until then, we have some preparing to do,” says Serino. “We always ask ourselves after a win, loss, or tie ‘How do we get better?’ We’re constantly focused on improvement, getting the ball off the foot quicker and staying focused and taking shots.”
Concludes the coach. “These are smart, coachable kids that love this game, and they show it on the field.”
Fans are encouraged to visit the MIAA website at www.miaa.net or visit our social media pages for up-to-date game information.
