Sports Roundup: Boys Lax Beats Martha's Vineyard At Home
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the boys lacrosse team following their victory over Martha’s Vineyard at home on Saturday, the softball team after they came up just short of a comeback victory on Friday, and the boys tennis team after a pair of losses on back to back days without their top singles player available.
Boys Lacrosse Improves To 2-0 Following Win Over Martha’s Vineyard
The boys lacrosse team improved to 2-0 this season following an 11-4 victory over Martha’s Vineyard Saturday afternoon in Nantucket’s home opener. Head coach Sam Aloisi said his team made some sloppy and uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half but felt his team responded well with strong play in the third and fourth quarters when they outscored the Vineyard 8-2.
“In the first half our offense wasn’t really doing anything off ball,” Aloisi said. “Arann (Hanlon) had the ball and everyone was kind of looking at him to do everything, and there isn’t much you can do when nobody is moving. It was the off-ball stuff in the first half which led to us not doing so well, and we were just really sloppy.
“It is experience,” Aloisi added. “A lot of these kids are juniors who didn’t get a lot of time last year. It will come. The Vineyard had some athletes, and they were playing at a pretty good pace. They were pressing out really far on defense which we knew they were going to do, but still I think that kind of rattled us in the first half. With our experience and their aggressiveness on defense, it certainly affected us. But once the guys sort of took that and regrouped at halftime, they made the adjustments they needed to.”
Hanlon scored the game’s first goal and added three assists, but the scoring in Saturday’s contest came from some fresh faces. Senior attacker Miles Beaudette continued to make his mark as a key piece of Nantucket’s offense with three goals. Sophomore midfielder Andrick Mooney scored three goals as well, and Aloisi said a move up front to attack may be permanent.
Aloisi said despite being 2-0, his team will need to clean a lot of things up moving forward as the competition gets tougher. They will welcome the Falmouth Clippers to the island on Tuesday, one of the top teams in Div. 3 and the last team to beat Nantucket’s boy lacrosse program (13-6 road loss on April 9th, 2024). Since that loss, Nantucket has won 21 games.
"If we play like we played (against the Vineyard) without all of the mistakes, all the physical, little mistakes we made, I think we will do alright against Falmouth," Aloisi said. "But if we play like this, you can't make those mistakes against a good team. They'll catch up quick.”
The game against Falmouth on Tuesday, April 8th will be at 4 p.m. You can view more photos from Saturday's game here.
Softball’s Comeback Falls Just Short In Home Opener
The softball team played their first home game of the season on Friday against the Nauset Warriors and lost 9-6. The girls battled until the very end and nearly rallied back in the final inning with a four run seventh that forced Nauset to make a pitching change.
“We had a good rally. We just need to get that going in the first inning,” Nantucket head coach Grace-Anne Tornovish said. “We looked good defensively and we are making improvements every game. But coming in right at the beginning and hitting is what we really struggle with and what we need to do in our next few games.”
The Whalers had some timely defense and pitching that allowed them to stay within striking distance but struggled to put many balls in play until the seventh inning. The base running, as it was in Barnstable last week, was strong and helped them score one run in the first and one run in the third on passed balls.
Sophia Yelverton’s double in the seventh got things started, followed by a Seren Cristler double that brought Yelverton across home plate and three straight walks issued by the Warriors.
Despite entering the week 0-3, there are things for the Whalers to build on as they attempt to win their next game. They will host the Falmouth Clippers on Monday, April 7th at 4 p.m. Saturday’s away game against Martha’s Vineyard was postponed due to weather. You can view more photos from Friday's game here.
Boys Tennis Drops Two Matches
The boys tennis team entered the weekend without their senior captain and leader Boyan Kalpazanov, who was off island tending to some college business. The Whalers lost 5-0 on Friday to Fairhaven and 5-0 on Saturday to Martha’s Vineyard. Both matches were at home.
Despite being 0-3, the Whalers have shown their capabilities when fully staffed and are a young squad that should progressively improve as the season goes on. They will be on the road for the first time on Wednesday, April 9th. That match will take place at 4 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Monday, April 7th:
The softball team will be at home against the Falmouth Clippers at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, April 8th:
The boys lacrosse team will be at home against the Falmouth Clippers at 4 p.m.
The sailing team will be at home against Martha’s Vineyard at 4 p.m.
The girls lacrosse team will be on the road against Falmouth at 3:15 p.m.
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