U12 girls to host championship game this weekend
BY LINDAWILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Land enthusiastic home crowd and over 30 visiting Westport fans on a perfectly manicured turf, Nantucket's first place U12 girls team battled Westport's fourth place squad in an epic duel in the sun. With both teams splitting possession throughout 60 minutes of regulation and then another two ten-minute overtime periods, the end result was in doubt right up until the final whistle blew.

On June 9th, Westport had defeated Falmouth in a tough, 1-0, match to earn the semi-final berth against Nantucket, who had protected home field advantage with a 3-0 shutout of Taunton. In what was to prove to be the toughest game of the girls' season, it was everything a semi-final game should have been, "a nail biter" according to assistant coach Louisa Crosby. Nantucket had not faced Westport during the regular season but was prepared to fight it out until the end to get to the first championship game ever played on Nantucket this coming weekend against second place Dighton-Rehoboth (7-0-1) who beat Wareham, 2-0, last weekend. At this point it looks like it will be a Saturday morning game.

Play went back and forth for the whole first half with no score, with both teams having their chances. Intense shots were fired on goal from both teams, bouncing off the cross bar, the posts or missing wide by an inch as the excitement built. There were audible gasps and groans emanating from the sidelines from both sides with each shot on goal.

Nantucket was uncharacteristically flat-footed during regulation, possibly due to nerves, and rather than building up insurmountable leads as they have done all season, the team found itself having to scramble just to keep pace with a very determined Westport team. It was Nantucket's luck that Westport's best field player, Felicia Medeiros, who came to be known as "that Number 15" in the second half, was also their first half keeper and made every stop to keep the game knotted at zero. On the other half of the field, keeper Kate Freed, was dominant in goal, also fending off every attempt by Westport to score.

With both teams having deep benches, there were fresh legs on the field at all times, so it was not until seven minutes into the second half that Nantucket's Isabella Day, with an assist from Sabrina Dawson, was able to fire one past the Westport goalie from the neat to far post just curving it in. Nantucket then began to watch the clock as the minutes ticked down, holding onto the slim, 1-0, lead against a team that turned it up to get the tie and force overtime. With only nine minutes to go in regulation, Westport tied it up when Medeiros beat out Nantucket's defense and buried the ball into the corner past a diving Freed.

Westport had one more quality try to take the win when Medeiros came down again and sent a bullet up from inside the 18 that looked like it was headed just under the crossbar. Freed, who had 16 saves at this point in the action, jumped up and just got her fingertips on the ball and sent it skidding off the crossbar and out of bounds.

In the first ten minute OT period, which is not played as a sudden death but as a full ten minute period, the teams again traded goals. Nantucket went up seven minutes in on a shot by Dawson, off a perfectly set up passing play from Grace Jensen, who had been a thorn in Westport's side all day, to Cara Garufi, who had the distinction, besides Alexa Crosby, of being able to outrun Westport's players all day. Medeiros again evened it up with one minute left, sending the teams into the second OT period deadlocked at 2.

The final ten minute overtime treated the overwrought crowd to seesaw action with both teams firing off shot after shot and with Nantucket marking Medeiros' every step to keep her away from the goal. Nantucket's pace picked up finally and they began taking the game to Westport, stepping up their accurate passing game up the field. Cara Garufiwas finally able to nail a shot at six minutes in to give Nantucket the uncomfortable lead. Nantucket pulled its midfield and defense back and fended off a hard charging Westport team and particularly Medeiros, who, in the words of an impressed Coach Shelly Brannigan, "was the best individual player we have ever faced." She added that it was even more impressive as "Medeiros was so fast and agile on the field despite being the smallest player on the field." Crosby had high praise for the Westport coach as well. "She was a nice coach and the team was nice. It was a clean game and it was too bad someone had to lose."

Nantucket had the defense to thank for the 3- 2 win: Olivia Rand, Kyra White, Kylie Maguire, Sumner LeBaraon-Brien, Hannah Pykosz and Kali Sherburne. Forwards Samantha Freed, Mya Kotalac and Jacq Raynor kept the pressure on most of the game. But, the outstanding individual play at mid-field of Jensen, Taylor Kopp and Alexa Crosby combined to contain "number 15" and cut down her shooting power and eke out

the victory for Nantucket. I