Boys Lax Wins State Title Rematch, Advances To State Quarterfinal

The Nantucket boys lacrosse team leaned on their superstar midfielder – junior Arann Hanlon – to secure an 11-7 victory at Vito Capizzo Stadium over their longtime rival and opponent in last year’s state title game, the Sandwich Blue Knights, Thursday afternoon to advance to the state quarterfinal.

Hanlon finished the afternoon with five goals and two assists. After Sandwich’s superstar attacker Cole Rodgers scored the game’s first two goals, Hanlon answered with a goal and an assist to help Nantucket tie the game 2-2 going into the second quarter. Hanlon added three more goals and another assist in the second to help Nantucket take an 8-3 lead into halftime.

“They figured it out,” Nantucket head coach Sam Aloisi said. “They were running the zone and if they don't have a stick on (Arann) at all times, even when they do, but if they don't, he's going to score, and he did. They switched into that man in the third and tried to shut him off and it works a little bit, but you can only do that so long too. We had to switch up our offense a little and try to get him the ball and a couple things worked. Having Nolen (Mosscrop) back in there was huge down there. Our attackmen have been playing fine, but Arann and Nolen have a history and a chemistry together, and it makes a big difference.”

After Sandwich grabbed some early momentum early, Nantucket dominated time of possession for most of the first half thanks to some excellent work in the faceoff dot by senior midfielder David Cirillo.

"I wasn't too worried," Aloisi said of his team’s slow start. "If we were down three or four goals I would have been, but you know, the beginning of these games, it's really hard. Even when we play against a superior team, we can hang with them for a quarter or two usually. Once you get deeper into the game, it tends to show.”

Jake Grant scored just over two minutes into the third quarter to make it a 9-3 game, and then Cirillo won a faceoff clean and sprinted up field where he was able to bury his lone goal of the game to make it a 10-3 game with 9:45 left in the third.

Most teams may have folded after the Whaler’s secured those two quick goals and increased their lead to seven, but an experienced, talented team like Sandwich is never out of a game. They responded strong with a dominant seven or eight minutes of the third quarter to score three unanswered goals and make it a 10-6 game entering the final quarter.

“That wasn’t your typical second round opponent,” Aloisi said. “They were very good, and we weren’t surprised at all. Even compared to last year’s game against Swampscott (Nantucket won 9-3 in the state semifinal), this was a tougher game. That was a good team. Good, physical game. Sandwich didn't quit and I mean, not that I expected them to, but they had that little run in the third. Thankfully David was able to win the faceoffs to sort of squash that a little bit. He did great today.”

With Nantucket on their heels, Hanlon stepped up while be face guarded by a Sandwich defender at all times in an effort to keep the ball out of his possession as much as possible. Hanlon was able to create a sliver of space and rip a shot past Sandwich goalie Nathaniel Hunt to make it 11-6 with 10 minutes to play.

The 11 goals was more than enough insurance for junior goalie Jeremy Jenkinson and the Whaler defense led by Nick and Ben Yates, Canton Jenkinson, Soren Edwardes, and Paxton Fitch. With about six minutes to play, Sandwich had a two-man up advantage and forced Jenkinson to make several tough saves, and with Jenkinson out of his net, a Blue Knight’s shooter put the ball on net but had it kicked away by Nick Yates as he executed an incredible foot save to keep it an 11-6 game.

90 seconds later, The Blue Knights made it 11-7, but Yates' save chopped a couple minutes off the clock at a time where Sandwich needed all the time they could get. Ultimately Nantucket clamped down on Sandwich defensively and secured the victory.

Nantucket earned the #4 seed in the tournament which means the state quarterfinal will be played on the island. They will host Ipswich High School on Sunday, June 8th at 1 p.m. Ipswich is the #5 seed in the tournament and has won both of their tournament games so far in relatively easy fashion including a 14-1 win over #28 South Hadley in the Round of 32 and a 14-6 win over #12 Nipmuc Regional High School in the Sweet 16.

Nantucket and Ipswich did not have any common opponents this season. Nantucket finished with a 12-5 record while Ipswich finished with a 12-4 record in the regular season.

You can view more photos from Thursday's game here.