Nantucket Boys Lacrosse Advances To State Championship

For the second time in three seasons, the Whaler boys lacrosse team will be competing for the MIAA Division 4 State Title after clinching a spot in the championship game following a convincing 8-4 win over third-seeded Manchester-Essex in the state semifinal game Tuesday afternoon at Scituate High School.

"This feels awesome," senior long pole midfielder Soren Edwardes said. "I'm super pumped with the way everybody's been working their ass off at practice, working their ass off in games. Everyone's buying in. I mean, there's no better feeling than everyone trying their hardest and really wanting it. I think we're going to go all the way. We can do it."

The Hornets pounced on the second-seeded Whalers early, scoring the game’s first two goals in the first four and a half minutes of play. It prompted a quick timeout from Whaler head coach Sam Aloisi to regroup his team.

"The first two goals were just lapses. We went over exactly what Manchester-Essex was going to do on offense and our guys said, 'Yeah coach got it got it,' and they didn't got it," Aloisi said laughing. "So we just had to call a timeout and regroup and tell them this is what they're doing. This is what we told you. You guys just got to buckle down, and the good news is these guys are all so experienced so being down a few goals is not a big deal in this game and to these kids. With an inexperienced, younger group of kids, they might freak out a little bit. These guys just had a sip of water and said, 'Okay, we got this.'”

The Whalers responded with four unanswered goals. Jake Grant scored their first goal followed by an effortless, behind the back beauty from senior attacker Nolen Mosscrop to tie it 2-2. Mosscrop is in the midst of his first full season after his high school career was plagued with injuries. His talent is undeniable, as he scored two goals in the state title game two years ago. But he is happy to be on the field, healthy, contributing to this team.

"This feels good. It feels fresh," Mosscrop said. "After the last game (against Pentucket) I really thought to myself I was like, 'Wow, this is my first full season,' so it feels great to not have (injuries) in the back of my head. Last year it was always in the back of my head."

He said the nifty behind the back goals, which have become commonplace for him this season, come naturally from years of playing lacrosse, but admitted in this game he had some added motivation thanks to the Hornets crowd trying to get into his head.

“It all comes naturally to me," Mosscrop said chuckling. “It's all about the angle, but some of their students were chirping me saying you suck and stuff, so I had to do it.”

Arann Hanlon made it a 3-2 game followed by an Andrick Mooney goal to make it 4-2 after one quarter of play. Hanlon said there was never any panic from this group even when the Hornets jumped out to a quick lead.

"Definitely no panic," Hanlon said. "We came in prepared. We watched film. We knew what they were going to do. We knew how good their offense moved the ball, so we weren't surprised by that. We decided to stay more prepared, so no worries there.”

After the Hornets made it a 4-3 game, Mosscrop scored his second goal of the game to get the Whaler’s lead back to two goals entering halftime. The Whaler’s defense was suffocating after the Aloisi timeout, and one of the unsung heroes of the team is Canton Jenkinson, a long pole midfielder who is not only one of Nantucket’s best players, but a senior who sacrifices playing offense to support the defense. He said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

"This feels great,” Jenkinson said. "We're trying to repeat history. We've been together since youth lacrosse, like third grade. We've been friends since first grade. Everybody knows each other well. Everybody knows what they can do, and you just work off that. I’ll do anything for the team. I'm glad to do it. If they need me at close D, I'll be back there. If they need me on offense, I'll be up there. I'll do anything.”

Two more Hanlon strikes made it 7-3 with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter. Mosscrop secured the hat trick with the eighth and final Whaler goal of the game to make it 8-3 with 1:38 to go in the third quarter.

"This is a very tight team," Hanlon said. "Coming into high school, guys like Ryan Davis, Paddy Carroll, Dave (Cirillo), Jack (Halik), all those boys are really close with us. They took us under their wing, and we had a very tight team, very close connection. I feel like going into last year, we built the chemistry up a lot. Playing with people you trust around you and get along with and growing up with your whole life is so special, and I think it just makes us that much better.”

The Hornets scored once in the final quarter, but it was too little, too late. The Whalers, on the back of some timely scoring, shutdown defense, and stellar goaltending from senior goalie Jeremy Jenkinson, now shift their focus to one final game against the top-seeded Cohasset Skippers, who knocked them out of the playoffs last year in the state semifinal.

"I'm super excited. We want to play the best of the best and have a battle in that game," Hanlon said. "Just getting back at them for what they did to us last year would be amazing. Super excited about that.”

"I think it'll be a lot better than last year," Canton Jenkinson said. "Last year, our offense wasn't really clicking at the start. Now I feel like we're going to click really fast. Once we possess, the defense can do its thing, and we'll be great."

Aloisi said ever since the bracket was released, his team has had the Skippers circled. He said they know how great of a team and program they are and are excited for the opportunity to play them again.

"When the brackets came out, our boys were thrilled. They couldn't wait. That's all they've been talking about," Aloisi said. "You know, we're trying to tell them, 'We got to get there. We got to get there,' and they did. I think they're real focused. As coaches, there's some things we can do, and we will, but most of it's got to come from them, and I'm uncomfortable with that because they're ready to go.”

Below are some more photos from Tuesday’s game. The championship will likely be played on Saturday, June 13^th, however nothing has been finalized according to athletic director Travis Lombardi.