Boys Lacrosse Incredible Comeback Bid Comes Up Short Against Falmouth

The Whaler boys lacrosse team nearly pulled off an incredible second half comeback against the Falmouth Clippers Thursday afternoon. They trailed 8-1 going into halftime, but found themselves down just 9-8 in the final minute with possession of the ball. Unfortunately for Nantucket, it was too little, too late.

“The first half was horrible across the board. The only slight, glimmer of hope was (goalie) Jeremy Jenkinson,” head coach Sam Aloisi said. “Our offense was terrible, defense was terrible, slides were terrible. Everything sucked in the first half.”

But the Whalers had short memories entering the third quarter, and came together to slowly creep their way back into this game.

“In the second half we changed up some things on defense and (Falmouth) didn’t know what to do,” Aloisi said. “They had one goal in the second half. We were able to do a few things from a coaching standpoint but 90 percent of that is the kids. They decided they didn’t want to get spanked two games in a row and they didn’t.”

The Whalers got three goals from Cole Chambers, two goals from Arann Hanlon, two goals from Patty Carroll, one goal from Jack Halik, and one goal from Colby O’Keefe.

“They came back and we had our chances at the end,” Aloisi said. “A couple bounces here and there and it is a win instead of a loss. It is a positive thing; just the fight that they showed. Falmouth didn’t have a whole lot of offense in the second half even when they had the ball on their offensive end, they couldn’t do much against our defense in the second half.”

Aloisi said he felt like Chambers picked up his play in the second quarter and played like a true captain.

“We get a couple goals early on their (in the second half) and it is 8-3, 8-4 and they start to snowball and the guys started feeding off of (Chambers). Arann Hanlon played really well. He did a lot of dirty things well like groundballs, assists, being in the right place in the right time – he did a good job.”

Aloisi was also very pleased with the performance of Jenkinson in net for all four quarters.

“In the first half out of those eight goals, at least four or five of them he didn’t have a chance,” Aloisi said. “He played great. If he keeps improving at this rate, it is going to be a good second half and a good next three years.”

The Whalers are now 3-3 this season. Their next game is Saturday, April 29 when they host Martha’s Vineyard at 1:30 p.m. The Vineyard is also 3-3 this season.

For more photos from this game, click here.