Boys' soccer squad wins two, loses one
BY LINDAWILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The varsity boys' soccer team got back on the pitch last Thursday and faced Lighthouse Conference foe, second place Cape Cod Academy. Nantucket beat CCA for the second time by a 1-0 score on a goal by Carl Stevens off an assist by Sebastian "Joe" McFarlane. The win moves Nantucket closer to securing the Lighthouse title and a post-season berth. The team still must face conference opponents Sturgis and Provincetown.

Emerson Guzman, who scored against Cohasset on Saturday, controls the ball during Sunday's 1-0 win over Norwood. MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent

The JV boys were also victorious against CCA, winning by a convincing score of 4-0.

The varsity team next faced Cohasset off island on Saturday, dropped a close one, 3-2. It was 1-1 at the break with the first goal having been scored by Emerson Guzman and assisted by Henry Farrell, who has been coming up off of the defensive line to take most of the free kicks from midfield. This time, he deftly dropped the ball onto a charging Guzman's foot, who then sent it into the net to knot it up. After Cohasset scored again, Nantucket evened it up at 2-2 off a shot by Francisco Mancia. Cohasset scored the goahead goal with about ten minutes left on the clock. Coach Rich Brannigan said that the team did not have enough gas left to pull out the tie.

The JV boys lost, 3-0. First time coach Colin Williams, filling in for Rob Sulzer, was upbeat nevertheless. "We played well, even though we were playing down 11 to 9. So many players had been called up to the varsity team to fill in for injured players that we did not have enough but they played until the very end."

On Sunday, the varsity hosted Norwood in a makeup game and puIled out a 1-0 victory thanks to a successful penalty kick taken by Jasper Young after Luke Daniels was taken down in the box at the 30th minute of the first half. Young, usually playing sweeper on the defense, has come up to take four PK shots this year and has buried the ball three times, with a fourth attempt hitting the post. Along with Farrell, Young has been having an outstanding season so far on defense, and is largely responsible for keeping Nantucket in every game.

Brannigan was enthusiastic after the victory. "We redeemed ourselves after the hard won 3-3 tie on their field, plus three critical injuries in that game. The guys were so excited today. After yesterday's game, today's game could have been a disaster. They pulled themselves together and were rejuvenated playing at home." The team currently has a record of 7-3-4 out of an 18 game schedule. The team needs 18 points to go to postseason, so even without the Lighthouse League title, Nantucket currently has 18 points with four games to play.

The Nantucket boys team plays Martha's Vineyard on the isle of purple

tonight. I