WHALERS DROP DOLPHINS
LACROSSE TEAM TAKES OPENER IN TIMELY FASHION
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
You have to love sports on Nantucket. With the Whalers and visiting Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins both ready to square off in the season opening game Saturday morning, the person with the key to the time clock couldn't be found.

MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent Henry Farrell, left, was on the attack as he scored four goals and added four assists in Saturday's season opening victory against Dennis-Yarmouth.

So Nantucket coach Rick Blair did the next best thing: "Does anybody have a watch with a second hand?" he asked the crowd. Middle school basketball coach Jeremiah Splaine did better than that: "Hey Rick, I've got a stopwatch."

And so the season began.

The scoreboard did operate eventually, but not before Nantucket pulled out to a 3-1 first quarter lead on goals from Taylor Thayer, Ray DeCosta and Henry Farrell.

Despite the strong scoring attack, the period was marked more for a scare that occurred early on that could have serious implications for the Whalers.

After the second goal, scored by DeCosta, the junior got caught over the middle by a wicked blindside check that upended him. Although the hit was legal, DeCosta wound up at the hospital where the diagnosis was a broken collarbone. The key offensive player will be out four to six weeks.

"Ray is one of our best players this year," Blair said afterwards. "Having him taken out hurts."

The Whalers regrouped, however, and came out firing in the second quarter, with Farrell scoring two quick goals (he would have four for the game) and Thayer adding his second. D-Y came to life after that, keeping the pressure in the Nantucket end and scoring four goals to close the gap to 6-5. A Gaven Norton goal with seconds remaining in the period, gave the Whalers some breathing room at the half, 7-5.

"I think our guys were tired and Dennis- Yarmouth jumped on the opportunity," Blair noted later.

The surge from D-Y was as close as the Dolphins would come, as Nantucket tacked on four more goals - three from Will Martin and a fourth from Farrell - to prevail in the end, 11-8.

Although Dennis-Yarmouth is only in its second year as a varsity sport, the Dolphins' second quarter offensive burst had Blair reminding his players at halftime that teams can quickly improve from one season to the next. Nantucket's own success since its establishment as a varsity sport in 1999 bears him out: the Whalers have qualified for the state tournament in eight of their first nine years.

"I think what we learned today is that we have to play consistently at our pace, and that we're much better as a half-field team," Blair said after the first game was in the books. "We don't really have the speed on offense that we did last year. We have to be more of a motion offense where everybody touches the ball."

Goaltender Keith Clemens put in another strong game in net. The team will be depending on his steadying influence as the season progresses, especially with DeCosta out indefinitely. "It's too early to make predictions," the coach noted, "but with Ray out, it's like having the quarterback hurt in football."

With the victory, Blair netted his 99th win as head coach. The Whalers will try to deliver his 100th victory tomorrow when the squad travels to Cape Cod Academy - against whom, appropriately, Blair notched his first victory. He may be looking at 101

when the Whalers host Hanover on Saturday. I