Chelsea Girls End at 9-4
By Mary Childs

The Chelsea girls’ lacrosse team made the 72 mile trip to BFA-St. Albans last Friday and came home with a 13-11 loss. The Chelsea Red Devils were not only facing BFA, but also 90° heat. Chelsea came out sluggish and BFA came out strong on their senior night.

BFA netted a goal first but Chelsea responded with one of their own. BFA soon took the lead and Chelsea never gained it back. In the second half with 12 minutes remaining, Coach Parker called a time out. When the girls came back out onto the field they fired it up and came back from a five-goal deficit to within one goal 12-11. Unfortunately, BFA snuck another goal in and Chelsea was unable to pull out the win.

Chelsea’s Lindsey Smith was high scorer with five goals followed by Kim Upham with three and Althea Spencer with two.

Chelsea vs. Randolph

Last Saturday the Chelsea girls traveled to Randolph to play in one of the best matches of the season. It was just a week early that Chelsea claimed Randolph’s first loss of the season. Within the first few minutes of the game it was clear that it was going to come down to who wanted it most.

Chelsea tallied the first goal from Hillary Bonasera, but Randolph replied with a goal of their own. The first half played out with strong defense on both ends, disabling the teams from scoring. Randolph netted another goal but Chelsea’s H. Bonasera struck again for the Lady Devils. When the first half ended the score was tied 2-2.

In the second half both offensive ends picked it. Chelsea scored the first goal of the half to give them a 3-2 advantage. But Randolph responded immediately with two goals of their own, erasing Chelsea’s last lead of the game. The teams swapped goals but it was the Lady Ghosts who held the largest lead of the second half, 7-5, with less than 10 minutes to go.

Unfortunately, Chelsea was missing two key players leaving their bench empty. When three yellow cards came Chelsea’s way they had no option but to play two men down. A glimmer of hope surfaced for the Chelsea girls when Kim Upham found the back of the net with two minutes remaining in the game closing the gap to 7-6. But that was as close as the Lady Devils came to overcoming Randolph.

Despite Chelsea’s loss they played a tough game and made a great show for the fans. H. Bonasera led Chelsea with a hat trick, followed by Lindsey Smith, Kim Upham, Michelle Upham, who each tallied one. Chelsea finished their regular season with a 9-4 record. They earned a fifth-place seed and will host Hartford at 4:30 today in quarter final action.

Last Week’s Games

On Wednesday, May 16, the Chelsea girls’ lacrosse team stepped off the bus to face Green Mountain Valley Ski School in the pouring rain. But the rain didn’t stop the Red Devils from beating GMVS 9-6. GMVS opened the scoring shortly after the first draw but it didn’t keep Chelsea back. Chelsea’s defense responded by forming a brick wall disabling GMVS players from penetrating the eight meter fan and shots that did make it through were stopped by Chelsea keeper Laura Upham. While Chelsea’s defense held strong in the back Chelsea’s offense controlled the ball and slipped five shots to the back of the net before the half was over. Chelsea held the lead at the half 5-1 with Laura Upham having 7 saves in goal.

Althea Spencer was Chelsea’s high scorer with four goals followed by Kim Upham with three, Mary Childs slipped in two and Hillary Bonasera tallied one. Laura Upham had an impressive game with 12 saves total.

The Chelsea girls lacrosse team rolled past Randolph 10-3 to give Randolph their first loss of the season. Chelsea came out strong scoring three goals before Randolph answered with one of their own. Chelsea’s solid defense held Randolph scoring threat Shelby Peltier back and kept Randolph to a lone goal in the first half.

Chelsea came away with an 18-2 win over Oxbow on their senior night, Tuesday, May 22. Chelsea came out strong as Hillary Bonasera tallied the first goal within 11 seconds of the start of the game. The Red Devils put in nine more goals before Oxbow slipped one by the Chelsea defense.

Kim Upham led Chelsea with four goals, Morgan Wadkins, Sam Bonasera, Jodi Emerson, Hillary Bonasera and Michelle Upham tallied two goals each. Lindsey Smith, Althea Spencer, and Olivia Conner each had one. Katie Cooper tallied her first varsity goal in the second half.

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