Sports
By Ralph Stewart
Published: January 22, 2009
8th Nan Rheault one to remember
The 8th annual Nan Rheault Invitational tournament featured some of the best girls hockey ever played in these parts.
When all was said and done last weekend at the Martha's Vineyard Arena, Cathedral High of Springfield won the varsity tournament and Mount St. Charles Academy of Rhode Island won the jayvee bracket, but it was the play of the home teams that stole the show.
Photos by Ralph Stewart
Both the varsity and junior varsity Vineyarders won their openers in thrilling overtime shootouts and finished as tournament runners-up.
The proceedings started Saturday afternoon with the mighty Mounties of St. Charles taming the Newton North Tigers 8-0.
What followed was a classic between the jayvee Vineyarders and Needham.
Despite dominating long stretches of the game, Martha's Vineyard trailed 2-0 after two periods.
Early in the third, with Needham on the tail end of a power play, Rilla Hammett stole the puck at center ice, raced toward the Rocket goal, and fired in a snap-wrister to make it 2-1.
The Purple poured on the pressure to no avail until Leah Selby stuffed in a rebound at the left post to tie it with 3:48 left. Olivia Cimeno got the assist.
The game remained tied until the end of regulation and through five minutes of sudden-death overtime.
Thus, matters were decided by a shootout. Each team picked three players to skate in alone on the opposing goalie. The first 13 shooters failed to score - seven for Needham and six for Martha's Vineyard
Enter Leah Selby who calmly zapped in a ten-foot wrister.
The teams traded misses and it was left to Vineyard goalie Amanda Rose to thwart one last Rocket. She did just that, capping a great performance and sending Martha's Vineyard into Sunday's final.
How to top that? Well, with another shootout, of course.
Following Cathedral's 9-2 win over Peabody. The Martha's Vineyard varsity faced off with defending champion Wilmington.
Martha's Vineyard skated and forechecked tirelessly as the teams played to a 1-1 tie in regulation.
Alexa Fisher got the lone goal on the power play at 8:07 of the second period by alertly acting as a trailer on Phoebe Kelleher's shot from the right circle.
Meagan O' Rourke and Kelleher earned assists.
Once again, overtime was scoreless. The ensuing shootout was even longer than the first. Twelve players from each side took their best shots.
Through six shooters apiece, the score was 3-3, with Alexa Fisher, Gillian O' Callaghan, and Maggie Johnson scoring for Martha's Vineyard
Finally, Emma Forbes, shooter number 23, won the duel with her stick and goalie Jaime Forend, so brilliant throughout, did the same with her pads.
Officially, the result goes in the books as a tie, but to the Martha's Vineyard girls (0-9-2), it was indeed their first win this season.
"It was incredibly exciting, worth every early morning practice, worth it all, just a great game overall," coach Sam Sherman said after the shootout.
Sunday's championships didn't go Martha's Vineyard's way, but both teams performed admirably.
The Martha's Vineyard jayvees played with grit and determination, but Mount St. Charles was simply too fast, too deep, and too skilled to be troubled by anyone.
The varsity final was an excellent contest, with Cathedral pulling out a 5-3 win.
The Panthers brought only eight players to the Martha's Vineyard Arena for the weekend, but they could all skate, stickhandle, and shoot with great skill.
The teams traded goals three times. Shelby Ives scored Martha's Vineyard's first at 4:06 into the second period off a goalmouth scramble with assists to Gillian O' Callaghan and Alexa Fisher. Emma Forbes countered the next Cathedral goal to make it 2-2. Olivia Hart got the assist.
Celia Mercier fired in a penalty shot 4:30 into the third period for the final Vineyard goal.
Jaime Forend was again outstanding in net, stopping 51 shots.
Barnstable 3, Martha's Vineyard 0
The Red Raiders won a make-up game Monday at the Martha's Vineyard Arena, despite a tremendous effort from goalie Jaime Forend.
Vineyard icemen halt skid, down Dolphins
Jason Schwab scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period and Mike Capen made three clutch saves in the final five seconds to preserve a 4-3 win over Dennis-Yarmouth Monday afternoon at the Martha's Vineyard Arena.
The victory put an end to a three-game winless streak for the Vineyarders, who stand at 7-3-2.
Three times the Vineyarders led in a six-goal second period and three times the Dolphins fought back.
Chris Davies opened the scoring at 4:09 with assists to Matt Flynn and Tad Gold. Colin Hurd tallied on a backhander at 8:33 and Darren Gazaille put Martha's Vineyard up 3-2 at 13:03 from Elliot Bilzerian. Trey Rasmussen and Bilzerian assisted on the game-winner in period three.
Despite accruing a well-earned 28-12 shot advantage through two periods, Martha's Vineyard was repeatedly hurt by defensive lapses, resulting in quick D-Y breakouts and unguarded rebounds in front of Capen.
Still, the win eased the sting of a 3-3 tie in Gloucester Saturday night.
The Islanders watched a 2-0 lead turn into a 3-2 third period deficit before Tad Gold scored with 3:09 left to play.
Jock Cooperrider and Darren Gazaille potted the first two Martha's Vineyard goals. Trey Rasmussen had three assists, while Henry Smith, Gold, and Gazaille had one assist each.
The junior varsity picked up a 4-2 win over D-Y, at home Monday.
Cody Pachico scored the first two goals and Alex Bilzerian fired in the final pair, including the clinching empty-netter whilst lying flat on his back. Dakota Delviento and Tony DeBettencourt earned one assist each.
Vikings conquer Martha's Vineyard in OT
Crystal Miske drained a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining in regulation to force the game into overtime, but visiting Wareham left victorious 57-54, Tuesday night.
"The breaks didn't go our way," coach Lisa Stewart said. "That shot Madeline [Penicaud] had at the end rolling around the rim would have been sweet. These games make you stronger in the long run, but they hurt now."
Miske finished as the game's high scorer with 17 points. Kia Minor also had a great game, scoring 14 points before fouling out early in OT.
The game started slowly before catching fire in the second half. Wareham raced to a 5-1 lead. Martha's Vineyard scored the next nine, gave up 10, then went scoreless for eight minutes. The teams were tied 23 at the break.
Neither team would lead by more than five points all night.
Last Wednesday's game in Wareham was just as tight, but the Vineyarders won 46-42. The key to victory was Martha's Vineyard's superb team defense.
Kia Minor was huge at both ends of the court, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Katie Hines scored 10 and pillaged the Vikings with 9 steals.
The jayvees completed a home and home sweep of Wareham with a 47-33 win Tuesday.
Alex Mark led the way with 15 points. Sarah Williston had 10, Hanna Persson and Cat Todd, 8 each.
In Wareham last Wednesday, Martha's Vineyard held the Vikings scoreless in the third quarter en route to a 56-15 romp.
Again, the trio of Williston, Persson, and Todd did the damage to the tune of 24, 11, and 9 points respectively.
Sports Highlights
Youth hockey
The Martha's Vineyard junior high squad blanked KP Piotti 8-0 in Raynham, Friday. Tyson Araujo had a quite a night, racking up six goals. Dorian Johnson and Emerson Mahoney scored the others. Matt Davies, Marco Petricone, Andrew Carroll, Alexander Vukota, and Tyson Araujo earned assists. Noah Kleinhenz got the shutout in net.
Sunday, Araujo scored twice and set up the game-winner in double OT as visiting Martha's Vineyard beat the Hetland PeeWee A's, 3-2, in a state play-down game.
Saturday in Foxboro, the Martha's Vineyard NVL PeeWees dropped a 5-1 decision to Tri-County and lost 1-0 to Needham. Steven Brown set up Austin Morley for the Martha's Vineyard goal.
The Martha's Vineyard Bantams played next and beat Tri-County 3-2.
Also Saturday, the Martha's Vineyard Mites split a pair of games with host Nantucket, winning 5-2 and losing 3-1.
Willson Slayton notched a hat trick in game one. Sean Haggerty and Ian Trance also scored. Gino Chick and Jack Murray had an assist each.
Hunter Ponte scored the lone goal in game two.
He also chalked up the one tally in an 11-1 loss to the Barnstable Capitals at Kennedy Arena, Sunday.
The NVL Squirts defeated Y-D 3-1 in Foxboro.
Joe Davies potted a pair and Nainoa Cooperrider scored once. Mason Jeffers and Anthony Jackson had assists. Wyatt Jenkinson was stellar in goal.
RCBL week 3
The Heat edged the Lakers 74-72 behind 22 points each from Sterling Bishop and Damon Mello. Jason Dyer (17 points) and Sandy Fisher (11) also had strong games for the Heat.
Five Lakers reached double figures - Nathaniel Scott (22 points), Heath Estrella (12), Albie Robinson (11), Jared Silva (10), and Adam Rebello (10).
The Bulls downed the Knicks 96-73 in the nightcap. Ryan Murtha (22 points), Mike Manfredi (21), Chris Lukowich (19), Jay O' Donnell (12), and Mike Joyce (10) led the Bulls' balanced offense.
James Holenko scored 28 for the Knicks. Caleb Costas had 17 and Chris Fager 10.
Ducks Unlimited banquet
The Martha's Vineyard chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) will hold its popular annual banquet on Saturday, February 7, at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown.
The fun includes a silent auction that begins at 6 pm followed by dinner at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $60 for adults, which includes membership dues to the national nonprofit conservation organization, and $45 for youngsters under the age of 17. Bring a guest to dinner for another $35.
Founded in 1937, DU (ducks.org) has conserved more than 12 million acres of prime wildlife habitat in 50 states as part of its mission to benefit North America's waterfowl. For more information about the banquet, call Gordon Tyra at 508-627-8888.
Boys hoops
The three high school squads all had a tough time of it against Wareham in a home and home series.
Last Wednesday at the Sancy, Wareham outscored the Purple 21-8 in the third quarter to pull away for a 75-56 win.
Tuesday night in Wareham, the varsity played well but couldn't stop the Vikings' outside shooting in an 88-68 loss. Andrew McHugh did a fine job on defense, while Randall Jette was the high scorer for Martha's Vineyard with 19 points.
The jayvees fell hard, 96-56, Tuesday after playing so well in a 76-70 loss at home last week.
The Martha's Vineyard freshman did not play in Wareham, but lost at home last Wednesday 54-25.
