Sports Roundup: Boys Lax Beats Barnstable
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the boys lacrosse team following a solid bounce back performance against a Div. 1 program on the island, the girls lacrosse team following another road win, and the sailing team.
Boys Lax Rides Balanced Attack To Home Victory
The boys lacrosse team bounced back from a 17-3 loss on Saturday to the Cohasset Skippers, the #1 seed in the latest Div. 4 state bracket, with a 16-5 victory over the Barnstable Red Hawks, who are the #26 seed in the Div. 1 bracket, on Tuesday.
Nantucket remains in strong position as the #5 seed in Div. 4 despite back to back defeats (also lost 10-3 to Falmouth last Thursday), and were able to produce plenty on the offensive side of the game despite junior midfielder and leading scorer Arann Hanlon missing Tuesday's game with an illness.
"We did alright and a lot of it goes back to David (Cirillo, midfielder and faceoff man)," Nantucket head coach Sam Aloisi said. "David played great. He won most of the faceoffs. It was 5-2 after one where there were just two terrible defensive mistakes on their first two goals…. defensive lapses. But we were able to hide all of those defensive mistakes in the first half because we had the ball the whole time. Then in third quarter, (scoring was) two to one because they had the ball. But still, the defense did play well. But again, I think the biggest thing in that first half, and overall was David. He did great.”
With Hanlon out, the Whalers had to depend on their depth to supply the offense, and it showed up in a big way. Nine different Nantucket players scored with Jake Grant leading the team with four goals.
Nolen Mosscrop added one goal and had a team-high three assists. Cirillo not only dominated in the faceoff dot but added two goals of his own. Tyler Miller notched three goals, and the Whalers held a 10-3 lead at halftime.
“Jake Grant played well," Aloisi said. "They all did. They played well as a team on offense. That team was a decent team you know, but our guys wore them down. We did make some mistakes. That’s also a good point we were without Arann. He's obviously the offensive instigator and he wasn't there.”
The Whalers are now 7-3 this season and will try to get revenge against the Nauset Warriors, who beat Nantucket 15-7 on the island last month, when the Whalers travel to the Cape for a rematch on Thursday, May 8th at 4 p.m.
More photos from Tuesday's game taken by Chris Tran are below.
Girls Lax Earns Road Win Against Barnstable
The girls lacrosse team continued what has been an overall strong start to the spring with an 8-7 victory over Barnstable on Tuesday. It was Nantucket’s fifth win in their last six games, and they have allowed more than eight goals in just one of those games.
The Whalers are currently the #9 seed in the latest Div. 4 MIAA state bracket, and this win against a Div. 1 opponent will help them as they continue to work towards earning a higher seed.
The Whalers were led on offense by Dylan Damian, who scored three goals while adding an assist. Mayson Lower had two goals and two assists. Mia Beaudette scored two goals. Louisa Beni scored one goal and had one assist.
On defense, Myah Johnson and Maddie Lombardi continued to lead the way with Lombardi even chipping in an assist on offense. Ella Douglas had six saves to help hold Barnstable to seven goals. The defense remains a major strength of this team.
Nantucket will try to improve to 8-2 on Thursday, May 8th when they host the Nauset Warriors at 4 p.m. The Whalers beat the Warriors 11-8 on the road April 18th.
Sailing Beats Falmouth
The sailing team beat the Falmouth Clippers 3-2 in a road regatta on Tuesday. They are now 4-1-1 this season and will participate in their next race on Thursday, May 8th at home against the Monomoy Sharks at 4 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Wednesday, May 7th:
The baseball team will be at home playing Sturgis West at 4 p.m.
The boys tennis team will be on the road playing Sturgis West at 4 p.m.
The softball team will be on the road playing Sturgis East at 2 p.m.
Thursday, May 8th:
The girls lacrosse team will be at home playing Nauset at 4 p.m.
The sailing team will be at home for a regatta against Monomoy High School at 4 p.m.
The boys lacrosse team will be on the road playing Nauset at 4 p.m.
The baseball team will be on the road playing Mashpee at 4 p.m.
You can view all of the MIAA power rankings here.