Melrose also celebrate Senior Day at home
Published October 16, 2020
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ soccer team had a few reasons to celebrate over the last week. One was their solid 2-1 win over rival Stoneham, and the other, their annual Senior Day, which was held fairly early this season on Monday, Oct. 12 in order to honor the team’s nine outgoing seniors.
Departing this season as seniors are captain Jenna Champagne, Andrea Mortimer, Ava Palumbo, Jocelyn Skane, Randi Sullivan, Haley Smith, Ella Fleming, Alyssa Champagne, and captain Grace Donahue.
It was those seniors who helped get the job done in their victory against the Spartans last Saturday at Melrose High. Tremendous defense was shown by Jenna Champagne, Katherine Carney, Lucy Hannon and Ali McGuire, which kept Stoneham scoreless for 3/4 of the game. According to Melrose head coach Nick Tuccinardi, their leadership was shown by example on the field. “These girls played such a strong game and they never once stepped off the field,” he confirms.
Finding the net first for Melrose was Clark-bound shooter Andrea Mortimer, who made it a 1-0 game after Melrose’s scoreless first half. She scored on a penalty kick five minutes into the second half. Melrose’s Jenna Maguire added to that and made it a 2-0 game when she found the net in the later minutes of the contest. Stoneham would score towards the end, but Melrose defense clamped down to preserve the win.
For Mahoney, it was another example of senior experience revealing itself. “These girls are true leaders on and off the field. Most of these girls have been with me since I started during their sophomore years. They truly will have left this program better than they found it.”
Melrose honored those seniors on Monday against Watertown, who took advantage of an early lead in the first when they scored on a breakaway and ultimately never gave up the 1-0 advantage. According to coach Mahoney, Melrose just couldn’t find their footing offensively. “Watertown is a much-improved team,” he said. “I give them all the credit, because they deserved to win today. This was the best I’ve seen them play since I started coaching.” Despite the loss, the battle against Watertown gave Melrose an opportunity to get all three of their goalies in, with senior Jocelyn Skane having some quality saves in the effort. The team will hit the road for the next two weeks against Watertown and Wakefield before hosting their next home game on Saturday, October 31 at noon at Fred Green Field.
