Girls Lacrosse Beats Sturgis West 15-6

The Whaler girls lacrosse team came into Wednesday afternoon's matchup against the Sturgis West Navigators without three of their starters, including Emerson Pekarcik (10 goals) and Evelyn Fey (five goals). That, combined with the challenge of playing a competitive lacrosse game for the first time since April 14, meant this game could become a trap game if Nantucket wasn't careful.

But the Whalers found a way to pull it out, climbing out of an early deficit after the Navigators scored the games opening goal. They beat Sturgis West 15-6 to improve their record to 4-1 this season.

"I didn't really know what to expect since we were missing three starters," head coach Jami Lower said. "We pulled some JV players up. We started out a little slow and we were down at the beginning. At that point I think you are looking around saying what is going on. But once these girls found the rhythm of working together we were able to have more success."

Sophomore midfielder Bailey Lower led the team with eight goals and three assists. Sophomore attacker Cydney Mosscrop had four goals and an assist. Freshman midfielder Mayson Lower had three goals and an assist. Sophomore midfielder Claire Misurelli had two assists and sophomore attacker EJ Hemingway had an assist.

Lower said that Mayson had a very strong game and filled the void nicely that was left with two of Nantucket's top offensive players not available for the game. She said she liked seeing Bailey's three assists as much as the eight goals in a game where her team was incorporating new players into the lineup.

Jami Lower is on the record of saying she wants her teams playing a style of lacrosse that consists of elegant, smart passing that keeps the entire team involved and spreads the wealth around. She has seen that from her team so far this season and was encouraged to see it on a day where they were shorthanded.

The Whalers were only up 10-5 at the half, but regrouped during the break and limited the Navigators to just one second half goal.

It wasn't because of Nantucket's ability to dominate time of possession that led to the minimal offensive production from Sturgis West, it was their defense, which Lower said impressed her more than anything.

The defense is normally anchored by senior Anna Hudzik and sophomore Hannah Evens. Both played well today, but Lower said defender Brooke Damian was the star of the unit on Wednesday and had her best game of the year, going for every ground ball in her vicinity and intercepting a pair of passes.

"The ball was definitely in our end more than I would have liked," Lower said. "But Brooke played really well. Hannah Evens played well, but Brooke had some really clutch interceptions and ground balls that really saved us. (Sturgis West) was all over us. But as a unit our group played well. Lana Bresette stepped up for us on defense too and had a couple of ground balls."

The Whalers will host Martha's Vineyard on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. The Whalers are raising money for Lacrosse Stick It To Cancer and have a fund set up. People can donate by clicking here.