Varsity boys soccer team makes state tournament
BY LINDAWILLIAMS
After falling prey to windy conditions and no boats that canceled Friday's games against Norwood, both the varsity girls and boys squads braved high seas and traveled to Norwood on Saturday.

The boys came away with an important 4-1 win, putting Nantucket officially into the state tournament. With only six games left and a 9-2-1 record, there is no way the team can fall below the minimum of .500. "The more games we win, the more assured we are of a higher seed," said coach Rich Brannigan, noting that there is still something left to play for. "We are playing for the conference championship and home field advantage at the state tournament. We still have a lot on the table to play for."

Afitting end to the regular season will take place at home October 30 with the return of Martha's Vineyard. Nantucket lost to the Vineyard in the opening game of the season 3-1, while the Vineyard is still undefeated.

Nantucket jumped on Norwood early when Yuve Montenegro scored in the second minute of the game off a feed from Caio Correa, who, with 23 goals and 16 assists, is the leading scorer in eastern Massachusetts. Correa played the ball from midfield to Montenegro who had some room to dribble. Using his innate field smarts Montenegro saw the defenders backing off about ten yards and the keeper out of position. He picked his head up and fired a "perfectly placed ball" from about 40 yards out into the upper left corner of the net, bending it away from the keeper.

Things leveled off and Norwood started playing steadier ball, scoring just its fourth goal of the season at the fourteen minute mark to even the match and avoid a tenth shutout loss. Norwood put up a fierce battle, using their much larger size and weight to try to push Nantucket around on the field. Nantucket's quickness and ball handling skills have made a difference all season and this was no exception.

Nantucket had a "big goal" with two minutes left in the first half. Philipe Bazilio sent one home off a Correa assist to go into the half leading, 2-1.

Coach Brannigan was impressed with Norwood's commitment on the field. "They had a really high intensity level and tackled hard and played hard. We have traditionally scored a lot of early goals in big games." Nantucket scored within three minutes at Scituate, in the second minute at Chatham and in the fourth minute at Provincetown. "We are making the statement that we are here to play and setting the tone that they are not going to push us around. It is very important to have that huge boost."

With that said, "the second half was really all ours. They might have had two-to-three shots but nothing that Russell (Bartlett) did not handle easily." Correa's only goal came in the eighth minute off a pass from Steven Cranston, the starting game captain for the day. Eight minutes later Nantucket put it away when Beau Garufi, whose job all day was to pressure defenders, caused Norwood to cough up the ball for a corner kick by Montenegro, who curved the ball into the net

Brannigan praised his seniors as the "core of defense and midfield." Though Toby Glidden, Jon Gray, Caleb Mitchell, Steven Cranston, and Harrison O'Rourke will be graduating in the spring, he is confident that the bench is so deep that he will have the players to take their places and continue as a strong team for next fall.

And with his 39 points so far on the year, Correa is 12 points ahead of the nearest player in eastern Massachusetts, which includes all of the Boston area schools. As a team, Nantucket has scored 47 goals on the season.

GIRLS LOOK TO IMPROVE

After battling Provincetown to a 3-3 tie last Monday, in a game that saw keeper Sarah Poor stop a last minute penalty kick to preserve the tie, the Nantucket girls faced a seasoned and very strong division one Norwood team. Norwood scored three goals in quick succession and closed out the first half leading 4-0. Nantucket was never able to climb out of the deep hole, finally losing 8-0.

"The ball was moving too fast in division one for us," Coach Jorge Rojas opined. "It was an eye opener and we need to get used to that to compete at that level." Rojas tried all different combinations of players. "We kept fighting to avoid the shutout all the way to the end. We have the right tools and we need to play more soccer."

Even though the team could be quicker, Rojas has high marks for his team's passing skills. "We have to start somewhere as a first year varsity team and we are on the right path. With four wins so far, against veteran teams, we are doing well." He was hopeful that the team still had a chance to get to the .500 mark in order to make the tournament. Because all the soccer teams have ten days to two weeks off, Rojas hopes to set up scrimmages with the CPS girls' team to keep his team sharp.

CPS NOTES The CPS schedule of soccer play was quiet last week and will be until Tuesday, Oct. 17, when both the boys'and girls'teams play. Only the girls saw action last Monday against Riverview School. Nantucket blew them out, 6-0. The boys' game against Riverview on Thursday was canceled due to high winds and no boat. Boys' coach Peter Wright was concerned about the two week layoff. "We need to keep working hard and try to keep focused," he said.

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