By Jack Nicas

Girls Soccer

Somerville girls soccer strengthened its grip on first place in the Greater Boston League Friday with a 3-1 win over division-rival Medford. The win improved the team’s record to 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the GBL.

Somerville goalkeeper Molly Tyler allowed only her second goal all season with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. Head coach Jason Lenicheck said following the goal “we adjusted our formation to a more attacking-and risky-style.”

The adjustment led to junior forward Jenny Henrique’s breakout first half, in which she scored two goals, giving her five for the year.

With Medford starting the second half down a goal and desperate to gain a game on division-leading Somerville, Lenicheck said the remainder of the game was “hotly contested.”

“The team showed good character and poise to continue to put their best efforts to play coordinated, team soccer,” he said.

Senior midfielder Leny Alfaro cushioned Somerville’s lead in the 59th minute with her eighth goal of the season. She also assisted Henrique’s goals, giving her eight goals and assists each on the season, which leads the GBL in scoring.

Lenicheck said many of his “typically key players” had difficult games, but fortunately for Somerville, “others stepped up to provide the intensity that was needed.”

He highlighted Henrique, who’s scored in three straight games; Alyssa Gagliardi, who he said played ‚Äúvery effective defense;‚Äù Cassandra Marsden, who contributed ‚Äústrong play at a range of midfield and defensive positions;‚Äù and Tayla Plett, who exhibited ‚Äúexcellent pursuit defensively from her midfield position.‚Äù

This week the team faces the bottom rungs of the Greater Boston League with matches against Malden and Everett. The team visited Malden Tuesday, whom it defeated 1-0 in their last match-up.

Somerville’s next game is Friday versus Everett (3:45 p.m., Dilboy Stadium).. The team handled Everett easily last meeting, winning 6-0.

But Lenicheck said he will not rest with his team’s performance: ‚ÄúThe team needs to prove that the results of the first half of the season weren’t a fluke.‚Äù

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Boys Soccer

Head Coach George Scarpelli exacted revenge Friday versus his former team Medford, winning 1-0, after a 2-0 defeat in their previous meeting. The win puts the team above .500 at 4-3-1 overall, and 3-2 in the Greater Boston League, good for second place.

Scarpelli had called the match-ups with Medford ‚Äúthe most important games of the season,‚Äù and team captain Theodoro Demorais said before the season, ‚Äú[Medford has] been our rivals for years, but now that we have their coach, it’s a big challenge.‚Äù

Sophomore star Homero Morais, the team’s leading scorer, made sure Somerville would not fail in both challenges this season. After being shut out in his first contest against Medford, one of two games he hasn’t scored in all season, Morais nailed a free kick into the back of the net 20 minutes into the first half.

It was Morais’ 10th goal of the season. He now is responsible for over half of the Somerville scores all year.

The team hosted Malden Tuesday and will travel to first-place Everett on Friday (6:00 p.m., Everett Stadium). Everett defeated Somerville 4-1 the last time the two met on Sept. 23.

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Girls Volleyball

Somerville girls volleyball suffered a difficult week after an uplifting victory against second-seeded Everett last Friday, Sept. 26. Somerville lost three straight matches versus Haverhill, Malden and Cambridge, dropping its record to 2-10.

“Our record definitely does not prove nor show the tough games we give every team,” said head coach Erin Howe.

Howe praised the “tremendous defense” of Nayara DeSouza and Jennifer Souza and the “great serving” by Kelly Nolan, Courtney Coulombe, and Kelly Aliano.

The team traveled to Medford Tuesday and will visit Bedford tonight (4:00 p.m., Bedford High School).
Howe said, ‚ÄúOur opponents’ coaches and the referees cannot say enough about how fundamentally sound [our] team is.‚Äù

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Coed Golf

The Somerville golf team enjoyed a bright spot to cap off a three-loss week Monday when it placed second overall in the Greater Boston League All-Star match.

The team started out the week on Tuesday, Sept. 30 hosting Northeast Regional at Indian Ridge Country Club. Jeff Dwyer had a solid showing, shooting a 44; but it turned out he could have won on his worst day versus his opponent’s disqualification. Eric O’Brien (46) and Cam Lynch (49) each also won their matches. But the remaining five Somerville golfers could not. Northeast Regional squeaked out an 85-84 win.

On Thursday the team traveled to Mt. Hood Golf Course to face Everett. Lynch (48), Dwyer (49), Michael Shamshak (50), Chris Podymaitis (56), and Allison Monteith (57) all won their matches, but those were not enough as Everett won 98-94.

The next afternoon the team traveled to Wakefield to face Northeast Metro Tech. Dwyer never broke 40 shots on the day, shooting a 39, and Alex Mello won his match with a 52. No other golfers were able to win though and Somerville lost 7-2, bringing its record to 2-9 on the season. Somerville head coach Jay Hart said the different scoring rules in Northeast Metro’s league accounted for the low final score.

On Monday the team sent representatives O’Brien, Dwyer and Lynch to the GBL All-Star match to compete against the best golfers in the league. The 18-hole event was held at Indian Ridge Country Club in Andover, Somerville’s home course.

Eric O’Brien shot an 85, which was good for the third lowest total of the day. Dwyer (94) and Lynch (104) rounded out the team’s scores, resulting in a second-place finish.

The team traveled to Wakefield Tuesday. It will close out its season today versus Malden (3:30 p.m., Indian Ridge Country Club).