Melrose clinches playoff spot with Wilmington win
Published November 1, 2019
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boy’s soccer team is heading back to playoffs after a valiant fight to the finish: a 4-0 win over Wilmington and a 1-0 victory over Haverhill. They return now to the very familiar landscape of the Div. 3 North playoff field.
Their victory over Wilmington might have been their win of the year, thanks to senior Cam Rosnov who came off the injury list in furious style last week to score a hat trick that helped shut out the Wildcats.
“This was a huge win we needed to stay alive,” says Melrose head coach Dean Serino. “Cam was coming off the DL at the perfect time. We really needed him in this game, and he proved what a fighter he is.”
Senior captain Rob Wiesen scored Melrose’s fourth goal. Wiesen is the team’s leading scorer and a consistent presence on offense. “He’s leading the league in goals right now,” confirms Serino. “He’s done so much for us. I feel as though we had to get healthy and get into that rhythm to make scoring happen and I think that’s what we are doing now.”
Melrose also picked up a win against Haverhill on Oct. 28. Melrose’s Sam Barbagallo scored on an assist by Asefa Thome in the team’s 1-0 victory. It was a promising moment for two up and comers. “It was great to see them earn their varsity points,” confirms the coach.
Melrose has had an incredibly strong defensive season. At the goal, Cam McDonough has been a steady presence. “He’s improved so much,” says Serino. “We’ve only given up 14 goals in 18 games, and being able to do that while we battled injuries says a lot about the team.” Part of that has been the work of Jack O’Hara, Ryan O’Hara, Tommy Bergin and Sohaib Driff, and also the exceptional middle defensive work of Furio Forconi and Tarekegn O’Neill. “They just do a great job on lockdown out there,” says their coach.
It might be true that Melrose is now peaking at the right time.
“We have competed and hung in with every team we faced this season with a lot of one goal games—even shutting down Middlesex Large teams like Winchester and Lexington. Some games didn’t go our way but we fought hard and got stronger. We’ve grown up a lot this season.”
Now, Melrose will await the seedings for the Div. 3 North field. The MIAA is expected to release the brackets on Friday with games expected to take place as early as Sunday. Fans are encouraged to visit www.miaa.net or visit our social media pages.