Sports
By Don Lyons - December 28, 2006
Captain Stephen Greenberg's bid for a goal bounced off the upright. Photo by jumbopix.com
Grads have their day
The eighth annual Ryan Mone Memorial Alumni Hockey Game was one to remember. Thirty-four grads signed up to play, and almost all of them reported for the 11:15 game, two 20-minute periods of running time.
The purple-clads threatened to make it a blowout. Derek Avakian put the first point on the board, assisted by Joe Merry and Kraig Mundt. Mundt made it 2-0 with help from Derek Avakian. Alex Avakian upped the ante to three with help from Dan Merry and Nick Townes. Zach Townes was next to score, assisted by his brother Nick and Danny Merry, making it a 4-0 game.
With less than two minutes remaining in the period, Kevin Hatt of the class of '86, the senior alumnus on the ice, lit the lamp for the white team, assisted by Ben Gunn and Micah Deary.
Goalie Alex Minnehan played his usual stellar game fronted here by Riley Dobel. Photo by Kathy Reitmer
But in the final seconds Mike Perry made it 5-1 with help from Nick Townes and Alex Finkelstein.
The second half was a mirror image of the first, and then some.
Jon Mone, assisted by Elliot Coutts and Steve McCormack, got things going just moments after the face off. McCormack followed unassisted, and the period was not yet a minute old. Ben Gunn was next to score for the Whites, another unassisted goal.
Amos Cavallo's goal at the nine minute mark evened the count, 5-5, with Kevin Hatt and Elliot Coutts assisting.
Coutts scored off a face off in the Purple end putting the Whites ahead. The final goal was an empty netter by Steve McCormack giving the Whites an astounding comeback victory, 7-5.
Elizabeth Clark goes head to head with Amy Baynes for control of the puck in the alumnae game. Allie Clark and goalie Elyce Bonnell keep their eyes on the action. Photo by Kathy Reitmer
Alumnae game
Before the alumni game the alumnae had a go, won by the purple team, the team that had Liane Dixon.
Liane scored her team's first and final (third) goals. Chrissy McCarthy also found a way around white goalie Jamie Forend. Elyce Bonnell was the Purple shutout goalie.
To be expected, the alumnae game was not as fast nor as physical as the alumni contest. But there was plenty of action and skillful skating to keep the fans in rapt attention.
Bourne to play
Saturday afternoon on home ice was devoted to the Vineyard-Bourne rivalry, beginning with the Squirts.
Four minutes into the first period Dorian Johnson scored the first of his six goals. Before the period was over he would find the back of the net twice more. Nick Kent added the Islanders' fourth goal just 15 seconds before the end of the period. In the second period, Johnson beat the Bourne goalie twice more.
The third period was an abbreviated one, just eight minutes long, but long enough for Johnson to score his sixth. Matt Davies also scored for the Vineyard.
The Bourne Bantams won a low scoring game, 2-0. The first and third periods were scoreless. Bourne did all its damage in the second period.
Junior Varsity
The game began inauspiciously for the Vineyard.
Bourne posted the game's first goal at 1:17 and the second one minute later. Before the first period was over Bourne had made it 3-0.
The second period was the Vineyard's. Oliver Osnoss lit the lamp 42 seconds into the period. Two minutes later Jarek Peters scored while both teams were skating a man short. Bourne scored its fourth goal with five and a half minutes left in the second period. Then Chris Davis scored unassisted, and with six seconds left, Ben Ferry tied the score assisted by Peters and Osnoss.
Ferry put the Vineyard ahead nine minutes into the third period, assisted by Maciel and Osnoss. Daron Stobie scored what proved to be the winning goal with less than three minutes left in the game.
Bourne made it 6-5 seconds later. The game ended with Bourne on a power play and pulling its goalie to gain a two skater advantage but could not score.
Final: Vineyard 6, Bourne 5.
Varsity
The first period of the varsity game was scoreless. The Islanders outplayed the Canalmen taking 10 shots on goal to the visitors' three.
Both teams posted points in the second period. Tad Gold scored unassisted at 1:12. Bourne's Shaun Gordon responded seven minutes later.
Like the first, the third frame was scoreless. MV took 23 shots on goal. Bourne had 13 in a 1-1 tie.
Loren Gibson shoots over a Devil defender. Photo by jumbopix.com
Vineyard bedeviled
The Fairhaven Blue Devils girls varsity five enjoyed their visit to the Sancy Pachico gym on Friday, outscoring the MVRHS girls varsity, 63-44.
The Vineyard girls played Fairhaven even point-for- point in the second half but could not make headway against the Blue Devils half time lead of 40-22.
Kia Minor led Island scorers with an even dozen points. Brittany Stone finished with nine, all from beyond the arc.
The MV freshmen also bowed to Fairhaven, but the MV Junior varsity girls won their game by four points.
Boys
At Fairhaven, the varsity boys teams were all but equal in the first half; Fairhaven led by one, 23-22, at the break. But the Blue Devils grew their lead by as much as 10 and finished on top, 61-53.
Nick Viera's 14, including four 3-pointers, was tops for the Vineyard. Terrell Johnson (12) and Tim McHugh (10) also made it to double figures.
State junior champ, Tony Grillo. Photo by Ralph Stewart
A good year
Our pick for the top sports achievements of 2006
1. Tony Grillo's string of golf victories, including the MGA title of Massachusetts Junior Champion.
2. The success of the boys varsity soccer team, 16-2-2 on the year, good enough to win the South Coast Conference and earn the top seed in the MIAA playoffs, then reaching the quarter finals by beating Dedham in a tie breaking shootout, only to lose another shootout tie-breaker to Hingham.
3. Winning the Nantucket football game on Nantucket and retaining the Island Cup for the fourth straight year.
4. The MVRHS sailing team qualifying for the nationals in New Orleans and receiving a special award for sportsmanship.
5. The double Mayflower championship wins by the boys and the girls track teams and the boys cross country team's sixth straight League title.
6. Taylor MacDonald, honored for her athletic prowess and academic achievement as an All Scholastic by the Boston Globe: "the best the Bay State has to offer."
Honorable mention goes to the Oak Bluffs boys and girls basketball teams going undefeated, 6-0, in interscholastic play.
An honorable mention also goes to the 2006 Sharky's Timberwolves who won their second straight RCBL title and retired on top.
Special thanks to Glen Field, who retired as Athletic Director after filling the post with quiet competence and constant dignity.
Some of the action during the in-house meeting of MVYH Squirts teams. The Warriors came from behind to earn a convincing 8-2 win. Warrior Tyson Araujo scored six times. Photo by Ralph Stewart
Youth Hockey, on- and off-Island
The MV Youth Hockey Squirt teams, the Warriors and the Islanders, met at the Arena on Thursday to decide Vineyard bragging rights.
The Islanders jumped off to a 2-0 lead on goals by Andrew Carroll, assisted by Nicklas Kent, and a breakaway goal by Matt Davies. Swarming defense by Marco Petricone and Aubrey Ashmun kept the Warriors at bay.
The turning of the tide was signaled by Tyson Araujo's goal assisted by Mac Sashin. Araujo then went on a tear, scoring five more times. Other Warrior scorers were Emerson Mahoney and Austin Morley. Andrew Wiley, Chris Perry and Sydney Davies earned assist points. Final score: Warriors 8, Islanders 2.
Off Island, Saturday, the MVYH Peewees outmuscled Lower Cape in a very physical game, 3-1. Scorers were Shay Hill, Kip Cooperrider, and Joe Uva on a neat breakaway back hander. Jake Hart and Eamon MacKenzie provided assists. Zoltan Clarke was key in goal.
Also on Saturday, at the Falmouth Arena, the Travel Mites were dominant, 10-2. Aksel Cooperrider had three goals and two assists. His twin brother, Nainoa added a goal and an assist. Nick Vukota scored once and assisted twice. Mason Jeffers and James Sashin each had two goals. Assisting were Tristan Araujo, Joe Davies, and Greg McCarron.
