2-2 Belmont tie follows Wakefield loss
By JENNIFER GENTILE
WAKEFIELD — The Melrose High boy’s soccer team had a busy week that saw them take a hard- fought 2-2 tie over Belmont days after a heartbreaking, 2-1 loss to perennial foe Wakefield at Galvin Middle School.
Melrose is 2-1-1 on their early season and will host Burlington on Wednesday (post deadline) before traveling to Wilmington on Friday evening.
The action began on Thursday, Sept. 21 when Melrose traveled to Wakefield to face the 4-2 Warriors, who have served as foil and rival for Melrose in recent seasons. The game was sure to be a close one and this game proved the same, with the Warrior scoring late to take a 2-1 win.
Wakefield scored first early with a goal to make it 1-0 with 24 minutes left in the first half.
Shortly after, Wakefield goalie Matt Keefe thwarted Melrose’s best chance at a goal with a stop at the net. And Melrose goalie Aiden Heipler made a great save off a rebound shot by Jack Millward, while Melrose defense prevented several Wakefield corner kicks.
Melrose senior captain Amir Lahkiky would earn the team’s only goal in the second half to tie things 1-1 on a penalty kick fired at the bottom left corner of the net.
But not long after, Warrior Darragh Casey scored on a penalty kick for Wakefield with 7 minutes left in the game. That was a deficit Melrose could not make up as the minutes drained from the clock.
Despite the loss, Melrose hosted Belmont on Monday, Sept. 25 and battled to a 2-2 tie against the Marauders.
Melrose scored two impressive goals to put the team ahead early, starting with a Nick Thermenos goal, assisted by Liam Gavin, with 5:10 left in the first. They’d take that lead into halftime and would double it when Liam Gavin scored his own goal with an assist by Jovan Ssebugwawo. But Belmont would battle back and make every minute count, scoring two late in the game to force the tie outcome.
Melrose (2-2-1) will look to earn more ML Freedom wins as they continued their league play this week. On Friday, they travel to Wilmington to face the Wildcats (0-2-2) for a 6:00 p.m. game.
