Girls Lacrosse Advances To Round Of 16 After 16-3 Victory

Photography by David Creed

The Whaler girls lacrosse team began their state tournament run today and while they walked away with a 16-3 victory over the Winthrop Vikings, Nantucket had to fight through some early offensive struggles.

The Vikings defense and goaltending caused the Whalers issues, and it kept the game at a scoreless tie through the first 10 minutes of the first half.

Sophomore midfielder Bailey Lower, Nantucket’s leading goal scorer, was finally able to get the Whalers on the board ten minutes in off a nice give-and-go pass to take a 1-0 lead, but the Vikings answered right back with a goal to make it 1-1 10:40 into the game.

“I think the thing I had to figure out was just calming their nerves,” head coach Jami Lower said. “We have such a young team. It was just shot placement and I told them they were making their goalie look like a rockstar.”

The Whalers ultimately went into halftime up 6-1. One excellent transition play in the first half involved senior midfielder Evelyn Fey and sophomore attacker Cydney Mosscrop.

Fey picked up a ground ball and looked up field to a wide open Mosscrop. She completed the pass and Mosscrop did the rest, sidestepping a Viking defender to get a wide open look in front of the net that she buried to make it 4-1 with 7:40 left in the first half.

“Evelyn was great on defense and really controlled the turnovers four or five times today,” Lower said. “Then we were able to convert them into some offense.”

Lower and Mosscrop each scored three goals in the first half. In a game where the Whalers began the game struggling to create much offense, their two leading scorers stepped up to break the game open and provide their team with some breathing room.

The second half was all Nantucket, scoring 10 of the 12 goals in the half. Their passing was superb all game long and the Whalers dominated the time of possession battle.

Mosscrop scored a game-high six goals and added two assists. Lower scored five goals and had three assists, all of which were beautiful passes inside to set up easy goals for her teammates.

Sophomore midfielder Emerson Pekarcik scored four goals, including three quick ones to begin the second half. Senior midfielder Ava Mosscrop had one goal.

The Whalers, who are ranked #4 in the tournament, will now play #20 South Hadley High School on a date to be determined, but the matchup will likely take place on Friday, June 10, at either 2 or 4 p.m.