Sports Roundup: Boys Lax Earns Huge Win Over Falmouth
David Creed •
The Nantucket boys lacrosse team welcomed the Falmouth Clippers – one of the top teams in Div. 3 – to the island Thursday afternoon for a rematch of the April 9 showdown between the two programs that Falmouth won 13-6 on the mainland. This time, the Whalers shutdown the Clipper’s attack and rode a well-rounded team effort to an 8-4 victory to improve their record to 7-1 this season.
“That first quarter was crazy man,” Nantucket head coach Sam Aloisi said. “Just back and forth. A lot of hitting, nothing dirty or cheap just hard stick checks, body checks both teams battling – that was one of the most physical games we have played in a long time.”
The Whalers scored the only goal of the first quarter. It was sophomore Arann Hanlon, who has emerged as one of the Whaler's top players this season after a strong freshman year last spring.
“Arann obviously did very well on offense, but he did an incredible job in the midfield,” Aloisi said. “And on defense too. He had some key loose balls. He shut his guy down a bunch.”
Nantucket proceeded to score the next two goals. Senior attacker Colby O’Keefe buried his first of two goals in the game after a lengthy offensive possession to make it 2-0. Then after the Whalers killed off a one-minute penalty, O’Keefe found Hanlon for a sweet finish to make it 3-0 with 3:30 left in the first half.
The team defense and some key stops by sophomore goalie Jeremy Jenkinson enabled Nantucket to keep Falmouth off the board in that man advantage. But about one minute later, the Clippers did what you expect good teams to do and responded nicely with a goal of their own to make it 3-1, and then with 1:02 left in the half scored another goal to make it a 3-2 game.
Falmouth went onto tie the game 3-3, but Nantucket remained calm and stuck to the game plan laid out by their coaches. Hanlon eventually found fellow sophomore attacker Nolen Mosscrop streaking to the net and Mosscrop made an all-world play scoring a behind the back shot, which was his only option given his close proximity to the net on the right side and the fact he is a lefty.
“That was his only kind of option because of the position he was in, he is a lefty,” Aloisi said. “It was a good shot. It really was. Typically, I wouldn’t say that about a behind the back, but it was a good shot.”
With just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, senior midfielder Jack Halik – who Aloisi praised after the game for outstanding defense – made some noise with his offensive ability that has been on display time after time over the course of the past three years. Halik sprinted down the field with a burst of speed, cut to his right, and quickly passed it to senior captain Cole Chambers in stride in the middle of the field, who finished the play off with a laser of a shot to make it 5-3.
Then with 2:37 to go in the third, the Whalers set up a one-on-one play for Halik against his defender. Halik embraced the matchup and shook his defender off with a quick cut to his right to create just enough separation to allow himself to get a shot off and score the goal that allowed Nantucket to regain their three-goal lead.
Nantucket took their 6-3 lead into the fourth quarter and scored on the man advantage 26 seconds into the final frame to make it 7-3. Falmouth made it 7-4 with 7:26 to go, but the Whaler lead was too much for Falmouth to overcome. Hanlon scored with 4:50 left and from there, the Whalers stuck to their defense to close the game out despite losing one of their top long poles – senior Griffin Starr – to an injury early in the game.
Nantucket is currently the #1 seed in Div. 4 and are unlikely to drop after beating as strong of an opponent as Falmouth is – a program that made it all the way to the Div. 3 state title game last year and is currently the #2 seed in Div. 3 with an 8-3 record.
The Whalers also beat Archbishop Williams at home on Wednesday 14-3. Below are some photos taken from that game by Chris Tran.
Nantucket will have another tough test ahead of them on Sunday, May 5 when they travel to face King Phillip (4-4) at 11 a.m. KP is currently the #11 seed in the latest Div. 2 state tournament bracket.
In other Whaler sports news:
Pekarcik’s Eight Goals Help Girls Lax Remain Undefeated
The Nantucket girls lacrosse team went on the road Thursday afternoon and battled with the Falmouth Clippers as well. Their game was much more lopsided however as Nantucket sailed home with an 18-6 win.
Senior midfielder Emerson Pekarcik led the team with eight goals and an assist. Senior midfielder Bailey Lower finished with six goals and a team-high five assists. Senior attacker Cydney Mosscrop scored two goals and notched an assist. Juniors Suz Peraner and Mayson Lower each scored one goal.
Nantucket is now 10-0 this season and although there was never any doubt, has officially clinched a spot in the Div. 4 state tournament after earning their 10th win, which guarantees they will end the year with a record of .500 or better.
The Whalers next game is scheduled for Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m. against Ashland High School on the island at 11 a.m.
Baseball Earns First Win Behind Dwyer’s Strong Outing
The Whaler baseball team has been playing some good baseball these past couple of weeks but had nothing to show for it in the win column. That changed Wednesday afternoon when they finally secured that elusive first win against Rising Tide at home 3-1.
“Get one in the right column and then hope we can go on a run,” Nantucket head coach Jack Pearson said of the confidence boost this first win could give his team. “Hopefully we put up a good fight on Friday and then we see Atlantis Charter for the first time, we see Cape Cod Tech again, we see Sturgis West again. We're looking forward to those games. Hopefully this is where they say 'Ah, yeah we can do that (win).'"
Senior captain Shea Dwyer pitched all seven innings and struck out six batters. He did not allow a hit or base runner until the fourth inning. Dwyer also made an impact offensively – drawing a walk in the first inning before eventually scoring after stealing a base, a wild pitch, and a fielder’s choice.
"He's balling right now,” Pearson said. “He's found a rhythm and he's keeping the hitters off balance by mixing up his delivery. He's not relying on his off speed. We're talking a lot about like if you see a bad swing on the fastball there is no reason to give him a break with a curve ball. He's hitting spots. He's not walking guys, not hitting guys.”
The Heron’s lone run came on a fielding error, which is an area of the Whaler’s game that Pearson said needs to continue to be cleaned up despite improvement from game one to now.
Nantucket will try to win their second straight game on Friday, May 3 when they host St. John Paul II at 4 p.m.
Softball Loses 19-17 To Rising Tide
The Nantucket softball team fell to 2-5 this season following a 19-17 loss to Rising Tide on the road Wednesday afternoon.
Nantucket trailed 15-7 after three innings and nearly pulled off the improbable comeback in the final inning where they scored six runs.
The top of the lineup one through four featuring Madison Silva, Lola Caron, Yahely Del Rosario Gomez, and Sydney Ard each had one hit and scored in the last inning. Those four scored 11 of the Whaler’s 17 runs in total.
Ard went 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles and a walk; Gomez went 2 for 2 with a pair of singles and a walk; Caron went 3 for 4 with three singles; and Silva went 2 for 3 with two singles and a walk.
The Whalers will try to get back into the win column on Friday, May 3 on the road against St. John Paul II at 3:45 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, May 3
The baseball team will be at home facing St. John Paul II at 3:45 p.m.
The girls tennis team will be at home facing Rising Tide at 4 p.m.
The softball team will be on the road facing St. John Paul II at 3:45 p.m.
The boys tennis team will be on the road facing Rising Tide at 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 4:
There are no games.
Sunday, May 5:
The girls lacrosse team will host Ashland at 11 a.m.
The softball team will host Martha's Vineyard at 12:30 p.m.
The boys lacrosse team will be on the road facing King Phillip at 12:45 p.m.
For more coverage of all the Nantucket spring sports teams, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X (Twitter). You can follow photographer Chris Tran by clicking here. You can view the MIAA power rankings here.