THE MELROSE High girls’ lacrosse team will resume play on Monday on the road against Shawsheen Tech. (photo by Raj Das, edphotos.com)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girl’s varsity lacrosse team is coming off a challenging week with a chance to regroup after a pair of losses against two very tough opponents.
Melrose traveled to Reading on April 12 and faced a competitive Rocket team and fell, 15-3, and later to Wayland at home on Friday, April 14, 15-6.
Melrose goals came courtesy of Jill Frawley, Megan Casey and Alison Doherty against Reading.
Melrose head coach Matt Galusi acknowledged the steep challenge they faced. “Reading is one of the best teams in the ML12 year and we knew what we’d be up against. I’m proud of how we never gave up and kept playing hard throughout the game,” says their coach.
Fresh off that challenge, Melrose also hosted a tough non-league Wayland, state semi finalists in Div. 2 last season. They were outmatched in the 15-6 loss, despite great scores from Jill Frawley, Megan Casey, Alison Doherty, Cailyn MacDonald and Lucy Clark.
“Wayland came ready to play,” said Galusi. “We played much better [than against Reading] and our defense worked as a unit. We were crashing hard and sliding at the right time. Though we gave up goals on unsettled situations we had a chance to set up our defense and push out, so we made Wayland work for everything.”
Having faced such heavy hitters, this will prepare Melrose for what they hope will be a tourney bid. Degree of difficulty in competition is often rewarded in power rankings, where losing to a top-tier team can be more beneficial than beating a non-tourney team. Notes the coach, “We intentionally scheduled very skilled teams to start off the year.”
Across the field, there are plenty of things he has liked seeing, including the efforts of goalie Sophia Hitchman. “She’s made so many saves and kept us in contention in almost every game.”
Recent defensive efforts have been manned by Lindsay Teevan and Emily Lucien, who’ve both impressed their coach. “Emily has been playing very solidly as of late and Lindsay has been fantastic as the ‘quarterback’ on the field.”
Meanwhile, senior captain Meghan Casey remains in control on the field. “Meg has really stood out on both sides of the ball and has been giving us much needed scoring in every game.”
Galusi also points to the work of solid scoring Jill Frawley. “She’s been playing excellent lacrosse as well,” and Cailyn MacDonald who continues to be a bright spot on offense.
“She may be small in stature but she is fearless and will mix it up with girls twice her size.”
While Melrose has shown plenty of promising moments, there is some fine-tuning needed, contends Galusi. “We need to clean up our clears and limit turnovers. We’ve been sloppy with the ball and it has cost us. We need to keep getting better every day and I’m confident things will fall into place. Lots of help comes from our great assistant coach Alicia Geiter and team manager Maria Jelley.”
After an April vacation break, Melrose will travel on Monday, April 24 to Shawsheen Tech.
Says the coach, “We’re still chasing that first win of the season and we get a chance on Monday, stay tuned!