Weekend success for youth soccer
BY LINDAWILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Six NSSA teams saw action this past weekend. The U8 #2 boys traveled to Yarmouth-Dennis under the guidance of substitute coach Matt Parker.

PHOTO BY SABRINA DAWSON From left, U8 team #2 players Stephan Silverio, Ethan Fey, Marin Churns, Andrew Dawson, Quinn Towne and Ethan Parker in goal during the 5-0 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis.

With one substitute, the team seemed at a disadvantage. However, within the first 15 seconds of hitting the pitch Ethan Fey scored and the team never looked back. Parker reported that Nantucket's defense "really shut them down all through the day."

Stefan Silverio, Marin Churns and Victoria Wilson moved the ball up the field, resulting in a Churns pass into Fey for his second goal. Y-D offensive drives were met by Quinn Towne. There was an audible "Oh No" from the Y-D crowd each time Towne captured the ball. Just before the break, he sent a shot up to Andrew Dawson who made a long cross to Fey for his third goal.

At the start of the second, keeper Ethan Parker, with five saves on the day, deflected a shot to Churns who passed it up to a sprinting Towne. He sent the ball into Fey for his fourth goal on the day. Nantucket visibly seemed to slow down but the game ended just after Dawson dribbled the ball from net to net to put the icing on the cake for a 5- 0 victory.

The U9 boys also racked up a 7-2 decisive win over Taunton. Jack Sylvia put Nantucket on the board early, with Taunton answering quickly. Xander Raith, assisted by Gus Day, and then Day unassisted, added the second and third goals. Coming off a strong performance on defense in the first half, Chris Tran used his speed to put Nantucket out of reach, 4-1. Day added another when he turned and fired in a shot off a throw-in by Raith, who then quickly netted another himself. Nantucket's final goal was courtesy of Ethan Wing.

Coach Greg Raith praised keeper Zephyr Zimicki. "He played a phenomenal game as goaltender, blocking ten out of twelve shots on goal."

Both U10 teams were at home on Sunday with different results. The U10 boys faced a determined Norton, losing a heartbreaker, 3-2. In back and forth action, Nantucket took the early lead on a Cole Millington solo shot. Norton tied it up before the end of the half. Nantucket came out and took the lead again off a fine shot into the back of the net by Ben Zieff, assisted by Carter Kuhl, only to have Norton knot it again and then slip past Nantucket with the game winner with less than five minutes to go.

Coach Schuyler Kuhl thought it was a good outing for the team despite the disappointing loss. "It was a tough game but the kids played great. Norton was a good team and it could have gone either way. We did have our chances when we took the play to them most of the game." He complimented keepers Zach Goddard and Noah Wing.

The U10 girls faced the Sandwich #1 team with only one thing for sure, one team would not be undefeated at the end of the day. Nantucket prevailed, pulling off a convincing, 6-3, win to remain undefeated at 4-0.

As usual, Kate Daniels, who ended the day with a total of 12 goals in four games, jumped on the board four minutes in, off a series of passes from Olivia Slade and Nora MacLellan. Nantucket went up, 2-0, off Slade's rifled shot set up by Kelli Molloy and MacLellan. Sandwich got off one shot in 17 minutes on keeper Renee Perkins and then finally got on the board. Perkins immediately made two diving saves, trapping one a whisker from the line. With a few seconds left, Daniels curved one around the keeper from the 30 for her third hat trick of the season for the 4-1 lead.

Molloy relieved Perkins between the posts in the second and immediately found herself under fire with a seven-man offensive push by Sandwich, who inched closer when it caught Nantucket's defense momentarily flat-footed. Daniels roared back two minutes later when MacLellan sent in a corner kick to Haley Kinnerson who one-touched it to a wideopen Daniels for the empty netter and the insurmountable, 5-2, lead. Sandwich then spent four minutes peppering Molloy from point blank range for six saves. Slade then snagged the ball off a long pass from a falling Perkins and steamrolled down the middle of the field to notch her second.

Molloy made one more save with under a minute left diving towards the post after a certain goal and pushed the ball out around the post. Coach George MacLellan gave Molloy the man of the match honors. "This group plays as a unit so much better than even the older kids, it is a great thing to see, that they love this game and live to play, win or lose," he said.

The U15 boys traveled to Barnstable. With only one sub Nantucket's legs eventually tired but ended the half within striking distance down, 3-1. Jake Molloy accounted for Nantucket's lone goal, when he buried the ball in the back of the net assisted by Emil Bender and Luke Daniels.

Despite the 8-1 loss, Assistant Coach Jordi Cabre singled out keeper Colin Kohler. "He had some great stops, especially as Barnstable had numerous shots on him in goal. Our next three games are at home and we are looking at turning things around in our favor." He went on to say that Nantucket had some good moments. "We played some good touch and go plays to get through the Barnstable defense and that's where our one goal came from."

After struggling with short squads for weeks, Nantucket's U18 boys team finally fielded a full 11- man squad with one sub on Sunday. Nantucket came away with the 2-1 nail-biter win against a visiting Taunton team. Keeper Russell Bartlett, who had been bloodied last weekend in the Vineyard game, was stalwart in goal. Coach Marco Tarcitano also called out Jasper Young and Alvaro Castro for

man of the match honors. I