Boys Lacrosse Loses Double Overtime Thriller

Saturday morning’s matchup between the Nantucket and Plymouth South boys lacrosse teams had a little bit of everything.

From the excellent goaltending battle between Whaler goalie George Boucher and Panthers goalie James Lopes to spectacular individual efforts on offense from Whaler midfielder Jack Halik and attacker Cole Chambers, it was a game that left Nantucket head coach Sam Aloisi feeling good about his team despite a 10-9 double overtime loss that sunk their record to 1-2.

“It was a great game but we made some individual mistakes in unsettled situations,” Aloisi said. “In fast breaks and transition, they probably got four goals on us in those and that is what got us in the end too in overtime. It was just a blown assignment. There was no quit in our guys at all though. Our attackmen riding really hard and hustling the whole way. We also played a lot of defense. They won time of possession and we were still able to play even with them. It was a really good effort.”

The Whalers and Panthers each scored two goals in the opening quarter, but Nantucket jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second quarter with two quick goals in the first 4:18 of the second.

The quick surge from the Whalers led to a timeout by Plymouth South. The Panthers came out of the stoppage with much more offensive rhythm and pace, scoring three consecutive goals to retake the lead 5-4 in the final minutes before halftime.

Nantucket had one more opportunity to even the score before the half and patiently moved the ball around until something opened up. Eventually the ball found its way to the stick of Cole Chambers, and the sophomore sniper ripped a grounder that trickled past Lopes as time expired to tie the game 5-5 at halftime.

The Whalers fell into a two goal hole seven minutes into the third quarter. The Panthers were able to temporarily slow down Nantucket’s attack while dominating control of the ball. After the Panther’s seventh goal, Halik scored his second goal of the game to make it 7-6 Plymouth South with 2:24 left in the third quarter. That score would stand going into the final quarter.

The Whalers came out flying to begin the fourth and Halik scored his third goal just 1:46 in to tie the game 7-7. The Panthers clawed back with a good response, but Boucher made several big saves to keep it 7-7.

Eventually, the Whalers began to crack defensively. A pair of defensive lapses led to two Panther goals in a 50 second span to put Nantucket in a 9-7 hole with just 5:41 to go in the game.

It was going to be a tall task for Nantucket to get a couple goals back against Plymouth South’s stingy defense, but the challenge quickly became much more challenging as the goaltending by Lopes, which was tremendous all game, gradually grew better and better in the final quarter.

Nantucket’s star sophomores of Halik and Chambers each had a grade A scoring chance immediately after the Panther’s ninth goal. Halik made a great deke to get to the front of the net, but Lopes stoned him and eventually stoned Chambers on a follow up attempt with just over 4 minutes to go in the game.

Shortly after that, Tedeschi found himself with the chance of the match all alone against Lopes. Tedeschi ripped a shot, but Lopes saved it with his foot.

“That save was absolutely ridiculous,” Aloisi said. “We are definitely looking forward to this next matchup. That one on Cosmo in particular was just a great save. You have to credit the kid on that one and tip your hat to him.”

But Nantucket didn’t let those three saves get to them. Halik was able to tally his fourth goal of the game to make it 9-8, and then senior midfielder Cole Evens, who had a solid day in the faceoff dot, won a key faceoff which allowed Nantucket to call a timeout and draw up a play with 1:42 to go.

The play eventually found its way to Halik, who found himself in another one on one situation. Halik surveyed the landscape before ultimately moving into his defender and deking him out by spinning off his back foot to create an open path to the net where he buried the chance and sent Nantucket’s sideline into a frenzy with 36.8 seconds left in the game.

“Jack just has a good stick and a really good sense for offense,” Aloisi said. “He’s tough to stop because he’s a big, strong guy. He is a tough guy to stop one-on-one.”

Boucher made a tremendous save as time expired to keep Nantucket alive for overtime. The Whalers controlled play for 3:52 of the first overtime period, but had nothing to show for it. With 8.2 seconds remaining, the Panthers executed a beautifully drawn up play to move the ball quickly down the field. The Panthers ended up with a great chance, but Boucher was up to the task again to send the game to double overtime.

The Whalers had their chances in the second overtime as well, but the Panthers were able to take advantage of a fast break opportunity and sail away with a win after scoring the game winner.

Nantucket will now have to wait a couple weeks to play their next game, which will be on April 26 against the Falmouth Clippers on the road.