Persistence pays for Melrose
Red Raiders riding high
When Matt James took the helm at Melrose, many cautioned him it would be years of struggle. But James embarked on the journey regardless, trudging past any warning signs as the Red Raiders made gains along the way.
It has all added up to this season, a far different Melrose team than the one James inherited back in 2011, when the program had just six wins under its belt. Behind a high-octane offense and a stellar defense, the Red Raiders are now thriving, off to a program-record 9-0 start and showing no signs of slowing down.
“It’s honestly one of the greatest things you could ever be a part of,” said James of the turnaround. “The city is so small, and everyone knows each other, and there’s so few kids to pull from, so we really have a great community of athletes.”
With the program trending upward, James and his players saw a start like this coming, but even they were surprised by some key wins.
In the second game of the season, Melrose doubled-up skillful Acton-Boxboro, 12-6. On April 19, it upset Needham on the road, 12-10.
“We’ve played (A-B) for three years and I really wanted that this year and we played really well that whole game,” James said. “That one really stands out. The Needham one, I don’t think any of us have really grasped yet.”
Filling the underdog role has suited Melrose, and provided the motivation to fuel its torrid start.
“Where we were ranked earlier in the year, nobody really respected us,” said senior attackman Jack Wells. “We just came out with a chip on our shoulders.”
Wells has been instrumental for an offense which has notched double-digit goals in every contest. Not only is he the leading point-getter with 31 goals and 16 assists, but he has also brought along two underclassmen — sophomore Christian Nyland (25 goals) and freshman Brendan Fennell (22). Freshman midfielder Matt Dussault also contributes offensively.
“We definitely have a lot of young guys in the program, so I try to lead by example, hustle around, and do the things a captain should do,” Wells said.
The Red Raiders’ defense hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. Cam Rosie, Louis Izzi, Brendan Maher and Will Pzegeo form a strong unit in front of the sensational Matt Rocha in goal.
With everything coming together this season, the only thing left now for Melrose is to keep its hot start going.
“They want to have a better practice tomorrow than we had yesterday,” James said. “That comes from a little bit of our culture that we’ve been trying to install for a while.”
Seniors aplenty
Equipped with 18 seniors, Wayland — winners of eight straight after losing the season opener to Wellesley — has a tight-knit, veteran group paving the way to their success.
“This is the last season for all of us,” said senior captain Ben Travis. “We really want to make the most of it, and to have such a tight class all together on one team, we’re like a family. It helps us play better together. Our chemistry is the best part about our team.”
Attackman Travis is a key part of a dynamic offense that averages nearly 14 goals per game. Joining Travis is junior standout Mike Lampert, already past 20 goals and 20 assists this season.
Couple the goal-scorers with an abundance of midfielders led by senior Chris Balicki, while senior long-stick midfielder Kyle Camphausen and senior Kyle Miller anchor the defense, and the Warriors have the right blend of talent and experience to make this a special season.
“I’m definitely blessed to have this many seniors play with each other,” said coach Marcus Craigwell. “I told the boys, ‘If it doesn’t happen this year, I don’t know when.’
“Coaches hope and pray for a team of this many kids that have played with each other. We have all the tools to just finish the job, so why not do it this year?”