Whalers soccer: A week of highs and lows
BY LINDAWILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard traded varsity and JV soccer teams last Wednesday, with the girls traveling to the other island and the boys traveling here. The varsity girls took it to the Vineyard, shutting them out, 2-0, off a tag team pass from Grace MacLellan to her sister Kate to take the early lead. There are four girls in that family, they have been playing together since they were born and it is beginning to show on the field. Brianna Vittorini added the insurance goal with about 12 minutes left to go in the game. It was a monumental day for the Lady Whalers as the JV also triumphed over the purple, 1-0, off a Carly Jensen shot.

MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent Henry Farrell and his teammates tried to thwart the Vineyard Wednesday but the Whalers dropped a close contest, 2-1.

It was the first time that the girls' teams have beaten the Vineyard on their turf. Coach Jorge Rojas was pleased with the results. "The girls were very excited and they know now that they can play soccer against the Vineyard. They were relaxed and having fun, keeping the game loose and making the other team panic."

It was a different story on Nantucket under the lights at the football field. It was a tense match before several hundred local fans. Both teams had their offensive moments as well as their down moments with neither able to capitalize.

The Vineyard's first scoring chance came after seven minutes when Nantucket keeper Russell Bartlett overplayed a high bouncing ball that went over his head only to be backed up by Carlos Portillo, who ran into the goal and cleared it just as it was inching towards the line. The defensive prowess of Jasper Young and Henry Farrell kept the Vineyard at bay for most of the first half. Nantucket's best scoring opportunity came at the twentieth minute when Phillipe Bazilio was taken down in the box and then missed the penalty kick when the keeper correctly guessed right.

With six minutes left to the break, the Vineyard netted one after a hard shot went through Bartlett's gloves. The score would remain that way until three minutes into the second half when the Vineyard scored again to go up, 2-0. Nantucket crept closer when Jasper Young, coming up off the defense, fired a penalty kick past the keeper to make it 2-1.

Nantucket picked up the pace after that, keeping the pressure on in the Vineyard end for the last 12 minutes of play but could not manage to get by the keeper one more time.

The JVs managed to eke out a 1-1 tie in their first year as a team behind keepers Alex Perkins and Colin Kohler. Will Lendway, who also sees duty on the varsity team, accounted for Nantucket's lone score.

All four teams headed to Division 1 Norwood last Friday. The girls' varsity team went down, 6-0. Nevertheless, Rojas was upbeat. "Norwood plays a very competitive schedule and they were faster then us. We managed to hold them to 2-0 in the second half." The Norwood coach was impressed with the young team. "The other coach came over to congratulate the girls on their great second half." Rojas added that the coach "was pretty impressed that we were in such good shape and were able to shut down their speed with no place to run." Rojas felt that the soccer teams on Nantucket need to play more soccer. "We have a very bright team and have field smarts, but the other team was very technical and every girl could control the ball. The difference is that they play year-round, a secret we need to get here. They play indoor tournaments and go to camps. They stay together year round which gives them their seasoning." The JV team lost as well, 4-1.

It was a different story for the boys' teams. A varsity season that held so much promise has come to a crashing halt for some players after a rough game against Norwood. Though the varsity boys' team managed a 3-3 draw, the trip was not worth it, given that three starters went down with potential season-ending injuries during the match. A routine tackle by Norwood about fifteen minutes into the first half took down Bazilio, resulting in a shattered ankle, an ambulance trip and late night surgery at Norwood hospital to put plates and screws in to stabilize it. The team had to refocus and play after the long delay removing him from the field. Brian Tarcitano had scored just before the injury timeout to put Nantucket up, 1-0, and put Nantucket into the break with the lead.

Right after the teams resumed play, Tarcitano scored again to put Nantucket up 2-0 and then within a minute went down himself with a possible ACL tear. The trainer provided a knee immobilizer and crutches and Brian remained with the team. Right after that Norwood scored three goals in quick succession. That seemed to fire up Nantucket's players and earned a penalty kick when Sebastian "Joe" McFarlane was pulled down by two hands in the box after beating a defender. Jasper Young again came off defense to ram the shot home and gain the tie just before the end of the game.

Coach Rich Brannigan was happy with the tie. "Norwood cannot usually beat us and, if anything, can usually only tie us. It was so frantic a game I really did not coach much because I was on the phone from the beginning of the game to the end concerning the injured players."

To add insult to injury, literally and figuratively, freshman Jose Ramirez, who had been starting on varsity since Devon Kohler broke his wrist in the first game of the season, ended up with a seriously sprained ankle, an air cast and a possible hairline fracture in the JVs 3-1 loss. Dan LeMaitre netted the only goal for Nantucket.

Brannigan was down but not out. "The mood on the bus was very emotional. The players were really worried and actually really well behaved. They had to be patient, wait around on the bus watching movies. I was really worried that they would not be able to refocus and play the game." Nevertheless, the team came out the next day, after spending the night off island, against Coyle Cassidy in Taunton. JV players Will Lendway, Emil Bender and Luke Daniels were brought up to the varsity for the game.

Emerson Guzman put Nantucket ahead 1-0 in the tenth minute and kept that lead into the break. "The guys looked burnt, exhausted and I do not blame them," Brannigan said. "I could feel that they were worried about their teammates. When Phillipe came after being discharged to support the team it was great for the players. What was weird is that we had three players on the bench, all with crutches."

Coyle Cassidy came out with ten subs and had 60 players spread out among three high school squads. "They had fresh legs in the second but we played good defense for 25 of the 40 second half minutes. They managed to get one by us by constant pressure, making us play a lot of defense and a lot of backtracking, Jasper and Henry were their usual stalwart selves." After the teams knotted it up, it became a midfield struggle "until we got our feet back under us and fired off more shots." Young almost broke the tie when he hit the post only to see the ball bounce out.

"I am really happy with what they did this weekend," Brannigan said. "The emotion of the Vineyard game and then the injuries on Friday, playing through those and then having to play down three starters at the CC game could have gotten the best of them. But they rallied and did what they needed to do. In most places, if you can earn a tie on an away field you did a good job. I am happy for them for that." He tried to sound optimistic about having his three starters back this season. "It is too early to tell and only time will tell as to whether any of them will be back this season. We are hopeful."

Next up for both varsity teams are home games against South Shore Christian on Friday. Though Nantucket has beaten them in the past Brannigan was cautious. "They lost a lot of seniors, but we cannot take them lightly as they are always going to the tournament. We will be prepared."

In other action, the CPS boys' and girls' teams were victorious last week, with the boys' downing Mashpee, 3-1, with Matt Kopp, Chris Sylvia and Conrad Troast tallying for Nantucket. Coach Matt Parker had high praise for the squad. "The boys work really well together and you can tell they played together before." He singled out Sylvia, Kopp and Ocean Kane. "They know where each other is on the field and use the space to their advantage." The girls' team also took out Mashpee, 2 - 1. Ruby Fee scored three minutes into each half in a see-saw game. Kate Freed continued with another steady performance

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