A thriller under the lights for varsity soccer
BY LINDAWILLAMS
Still playing for a high tournament seed, Nantucket's varsity boys' soccer team annihilated Sturgis 13-1 last Wednesday. Coach Rich Brannigan stated that "it did not matter what we did or who played, everything we put on net went in". Brannigan took the starters out in the second half for 15 minutes in order to try to stop the scoring, to

Nantucket's Harrison O'Rourke eludes a Vineyard defender during Monday night's game.

no avail. "I was not happy scoring 13 goals, and we

played with 10 players rather than 11 trying to not score as much in the second half".

Sophomore Caio Correa capitalized to retake the top spot on the Eastern Massachusetts point's leader board. As of last Tuesday, Correa found himself four points behind senior Tyler Hebert of Sacred Heart (49), who scored his 100th goal last week over four years. Should sophomore Correa stay in this country rather than head to Brazil after the season, he has a good chance of surpassing that, having amassed 63 goals over two years (32 goals and 23 assists for this season). Correa did not disappoint, scoring five goals and five assists for a season ending point total of 55. As of this Tuesday, Correa finished in the top spot six points ahead. In the Central Massachusetts district, the closest competitor is Brian Henderson from Bartlett High School with 47 and in Western Massachusetts the closest player has 31 points. In the end, Caio Correa is the top point's leader in the entire state.

Yuve Montenegro had a hat trick and Caleb Mitchell, Harrison O'Rourke and Noah Keller had one goal with one assist each. Beau Garufitallied one goal and two assists, and Alvaro Castro added one goal. Even keeper Russell Bartlett earned an assist when he punted the ball to Montenegro for a goal. Josh Van Hoesen and Martin Manov provided one assist each.

Brannigan attributes some of the success of this team to the closeness of the players. "One of the reasons the team is so successful is that they have played together for 6-10 years in the NSSA fall and travel programs and this team is a prime example of how successful a group can be when kept together all along."

As the winds died down on Monday night under the football field lights, Brannigan told the team before the game against the Vineyard, "we can win the game and you know we can win it". Having lost to the Vineyard in the first game of the season 3-1 Nantucket was familiar with the excellent play of the goal keeper and their top striker. To prepare for this game, Brannigan switched up practice. "We mimicked their style of play last night [Sunday] to get familiar with it and to be able to recognize it in the game."

Brannigan was looking forward to this game. "It has a playoff feel to it and I expect we can win the game this time." Brannigan had been concerned about facing the Vineyard in the first game of the season. "It was not a good warm up game to start the season with, but we should be ready now." Both Vineyard and Nantucket fans filled the packed stands to cheer their teams on. Vineyard fans even chartered a New Bedford fast boat to carry them to the Island.

Nantucket went down to the Vineyard, loosing a tense match 2-0, an unusual shut out for the local squad and the first game Correa has scored. The teams were evenly matched for the first 15 minutes with neither team getting the upper hand. Unfortunately for Nantucket, the Vineyard had the wind and took the lead with 12 minutes left in the first half on a direct kick into the crossbar so hard it bounced straight down and then deflected into the net past keeper Bartlett. Nantucket was able to make a few good runs down the sides but for the most part, the Vineyard shut down Nantucket's usually potent offense by aggressively stepping in on Nantucket's passes and then making perfect passes of their own. Nantucket could not string more than two passes together and could not maintain control once the players crossed mid-field.

The Vineyard came out pressing in the second half and swarmed Correa repeatedly to prevent him from getting loose or passing the ball. He was taken down on a few occasions resulting in four yellow cards for the Vineyard and one for Correa when he objected to a particularly vicious trip. Fast, furious and physical would be the three words to describe this match from beginning to end.

Five minutes into the second, a penalty kick was called on an unclear and questionable foul by Nantucket seemingly outside the box, and which changed the nature of the game. Bartlett was unable to get a hand on it as it was rifled over his head for the insurance goal and a Vineyard 2-0 lead. Nantucket had a few good opportunities to score but the ball would go just wide at the last minute. Nantucket's best chance came with 22 minutes left when Montenegro sent a laser shot from deep in the corner directly into the front of the net past the keeper to an awaiting pair of Nantucket players. Indicative of the frustrating evening for the team, both players missed tapping it in by inches. Nantucket never really got another chance after that. A bright spot for the team was the outstanding play of defensive player John Gray, who was integral in keeping Nantucket in the game and keeper Bartlett who had his best game of the season making almost a dozen excellent saves.

"The Vineyard knew how to pressure us and where to pressure and we did not have our best game," explained Brannigan. "The team was bunching up and lost momentum. They were able to render Correa ineffective, unlike any other team so far and obviously had a plan for him." Brannigan had high praise for this particular Vineyard squad. "They were the best Vineyard team I have seen since I began coaching at the varsity level eight years ago."

The final game of the season should have been against Scituate on Tuesday. However, Scituate refused to come to Nantucket saying that since they are out of the playoffs the game meant nothing. They offered to play Nantucket on their field but Nantucket held firm not to change the venue. A forfeit will be charged to Scituate. Brannigan was disappointed. "Part of having a schedule means that you need to honor that. You expect to play 18 games whether you win, loose or draw. They were a good team but we will take the forfeit." With the team ending the season with a record of 14- 3-1, Nantucket is anticipating a home game or a bye in the first round when the tournament pairings come out on Thursday.

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