NSSA Soccer
May 31 -June 1
Nantucket Student Soccer Association's (NSSA) U13 Boys Team assured a playoff berth without stepping on the pitch this past weekend. Bourne forfeited after refusing to come to Nantucket Saturday, continuing a sad habit of teams not honoring commitments to the league, and depriving Nantucket of playing a full schedule. Nevertheless, Nantucket is currently tied for first place with Freetown-Lakeville, Nantucket's only loss, and headed into a playoff match against each other in a few weeks.

Saturday, Nantucket's U9 Boys Team 1 played Sandwich Team 1 at the Delta Fields. With the wind blowing players across the field, Nantucket capitalized on its experience using the wind to down Sandwich 4-0. Coach Jordi Cabre was impressed with the Sandwich keeper, who held Nantucket to an uncomfortable 1-0 lead at the break after Sam Rand netted, assisted by Stefan Silverio. Cabre also credited the wind with "helping the opponent to keep the ball out of the goal, and we had a lot of goal bending shots that kept on bouncing off the bars at the last second!"

In the second half, Nantucket increased its lead with Rand getting his second goal, followed by Muhr, with a mature slide shot that sent the ball past a diving keeper. The last goal was added by Ramon Partida. Keeper Ethan Fey had nine saves on the day. Cabre was pleased with the team's development.

"The boys have been working very hard at practice and showing it on the field with communication and team work, and the games have been exciting to watch," he said.

The boys triumphed Sunday over Falmouth Team 1 by a score of 4-0. On a smaller than usual field, Nantucket had to make quick adjustments and was only up 1-0 at the half on the strength of Silverio's foot. First half keeper Fey had five key saves, two that were "nail biters."

Nantucket stepped it up in the second half in front of the shut out play of keeper Partida. Silverio, Rand and Andrew Dawson each tallied one. Jason Adams had an assist.

According to Cabre, "the referee was last seen hammering out the dented goal bars due to Nantucket's firings."

The team remains the only unbeaten NSSA and divisional squad, with the lowest goals scored against of four, and in sole possession of first place.

The U 13 Girls Team played a tense home game against Bourne on Saturday with a lot riding on the outcome. A win and at least a tie on Sunday against Dartmouth would propel Nantucket into the playoffs for the second year in a row, having won the championship last year. A determined Nantucket kept action in the Bourne end, out-shooting Bourne 13 - 2 in the first half. Ten minutes before the break, Nantucket broke the deadlock when Alexa Crosby followed her own rebound off the keeper's hands into the net. In the second, Nantucket again outshot Bourne 15 - 4. Keeper Kate Freed had five saves for the game, the most impressive one being a high jumping finger-tip grab of what looked like a certain tying goal. The strong defense of Olivia Rand, Kylie Maguire and Kali Sherburne stymied attacks on goal aided by the midfield presence of Grace Jensen and Hannah Pykosz to preserve the 1-0 victory.

Sunday the girls locked in their playoff appearance when they drew a strong third placed Dartmouth team to a 0 - 0 tie. Tired and without any subs, Nantucket went toe to toe with a rested Dartmouth team in a team and kept Dartmouth away from the net. Forwards Crosby, Sabrina Dawson and Samantha Freed combined for 16 shots on goal to no avail.

Coach Louisa Crosby praised Nantucket's keeper and said, "The MVP of the day would have to be Kate Freed, who had 16 saves, which kept the score 0 - 0."

Freed's first critical diving save came 29 minutes into the first half on a oneon one that she finger-tipped away from the net and the second was on a rebound save off the post.

"The entire team gave it their all to keep them in the playoffs," said Crosby.

Despite gusting wind during Saturday's U9 Girls Team home match against Sandwich Team 2, Nantucket trounced Sandwich 6-0 for the third shutout of the season.

The scoring blitz started ten minutes into the first half when Jillian Fey stole a ball trapped at midfield netting it against the wind, followed closely by the same shot by Taylor McEachern giving Nantucket the 2-0 lead. Nantucket took advantage of the favorable wind in the second, scoring four more off the feet of Charlotte Hofford (on a cross from Grace Bartlett); Fey again on a solo effort; and two more from Julia Campese (on crosses from Jessie Lefebvre and then Emily Ballinger). Defensive duo, Marin Churns and Gale Bennett, were formidable allowing the team to attack without worry. Sophie Kuhl and McEachern shared goal keeper duties seeing limited action.

Saturday, the U11 Girls Team traveled to a rainy Dartmouth. For the twenty-second consecutive time, Nantucket struck first, when Kate Daniels, potentially the league's leading scorer, sent a hard shot into the net at the seven minute mark after both teams started out tentatively. Nantucket held onto a slim 1-0 lead at the half, having struggled with the uneven field conditions, long un-mowed grass, deep pot holes and dirt patches causing the ball to roll to a stop only a few feet from the kicker. Nantucket adjusted to the situation and scored quickly after the break when Claire MacKay crossed to Daniels for her second, then again, a few minutes later, for her fifth hat trick of the season. With a few minutes left in the game, midfielder Haley Kinerson stormed down the sideline and snaked one past the scrambling keeper to give Nantucket the 4- 0 win. Keeper Renee Perkins was unchallenged with five quality saves on the day.

In a dog fight with the other five playoff bound teams in the 13-team division, Nantucket earned its first formal playoff berth in its first year of eligibility with the win. The outcome of two games next weekend will determine Nantucket's position and whether the team earns a bye or home field advantage. The team plays for first place against current first place, undefeated Westport on Sunday at 12:45, before a friendly home crowd.

Nantucket's only loss in three seasons, was at the hands of Sandwich Team 2, a month ago. In the Sandwich Memorial Day tournament, which saw 188 teams attending from six states, Nantucket beat that team avenging the loss.

After loosing a close one- 2-0 to Barnstable at home on Saturday- Nantucket's U11 boys team hosted league-leading undefeated Sandwich on Sunday. Nantucket controlled momentum from the opening kick off, quickly racking up four shots on the Sandwich keeper with Trevane Clarke finding the back of the net after collecting a perfectly placed Ben Zieff cross. A minute later Zieff fed Noah Wing to put Nantucket up 2-0. Nantucket kept much of the action in the Sandwich end for the first half, but allowed Sandwich five opportunities to score at the end, giving Sandwich the halftime 5-2 lead. The score would have been higher had Zach Goddard, in his first appearance as keeper this season, not made several outstanding saves behind a flatfooted and bunched up defensive line.

Sandwich came out of the break taking it to Nantucket and new keeper Riley Powers. Powers was solid between the posts, making several quick saves, including a leaping snag of a corner kick that had been headed seemingly towards the upper part of the net. Leon Lefebvre managed to thread a slow roller through the legs of the defense to give Nantucket some life. However, Sandwich again attacked off the kick-off and went up 6-3. That would be all Powers would give up, making diving, leaping, crawling and challenging saves for the remainder of the game. Nantucket had its chances sending two dozen shots past, over and around the posts but was simply unable to make them count.

In one of their best games all season, the U9 Boys Team 2 battled third placed Taunton Team 2 on Sunday. The team continues to improve, but fell short by a score of 3-1. Simon Johnson scored Nantucket's lone goal in the second half, assisted by Chance Pollock. Garrett Kelsey was steady between the posts, moving well and coming off his line at just the right moment intercepting several Taunton scoring opportunities. Max Rand and Nat Davidson made particularly strong contributions for the team at midfield and defense.

Nantucket's U10 Boys traveled to Yarmouth-Dennis on Sunday and hoped for a win to rise above the 500 mark. The teams traded goals after Xander Raith put Nantucket on the board first.

Nantucket never looked back with Raith ending up with a hat trick, Timmy Earle scoring from his defensive position and Ethan Wing firing one in from outside the 18 for a 5-2 result. Chris Tran and Ethan Wing shared time in the net as keeper. "I was impressed with their ability to pass the ball and make runs up the field. All the boys have improved so much from the beginning to the year. I am so proud of them now," a happy Coach Claire Richardson said after the game. "We won which is always good, it was nice to see us work as a unit and back everyone when they would move toward

the goal. All the boys played well as a whole." I

- By Linda Williams