The MVRHS girls lacrosse team got off to a blazing start in the state tournament, scoring six goals in the first 4:28 of play, en route to a 22-6 romp over the 10th-seeded Old Colony Cougars in the first round of the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional, Tuesday afternoon at Dan McCarthy Field in Oak Bluffs.
Addy Hayman scored 30 seconds into the game, and Audrey McCarron added another 11 seconds later. In the next three minutes, Lily Pigott and Alexis Condon each potted a pair of goals to give the Vineyarders a 6-0 lead and a stranglehold on the contest.
The Cougars wisely slowed the pace to a crawl, and kept the ball away from the Vineyarders with deliberate passing around the goal, resulting in a score to make it 6-1 midway through the first half. They would not score again before halftime.
Following the Cougar tally, the Vineyarders resumed their speedy, razor-sharp play and put eight more goals past busy Old Colony netminder Catrina Skapik, to lead 14-1 at the break. That, as they say, was that.
Addy Hayman led a balanced Vineyard attack with four goals and five assists on the day. She also controlled 10 draws and four loose balls. Louise McDonald rang up four goals and set up another. Alexis Condon and Lily Pigott had three goals and three assists apiece, Audrey McCarron scored three goals and assisted on two more, and Skyla Harthcock netted three goals to go with one assist. Megan Zeilinger picked up a goal and an assist, and Abby Marchand scored the penultimate Vineyard goal with 4:42 left to play.
On the other side of the ball, MV corralled the Cougars with a swarming defense, and goaltender Evanna Quinn made nine saves.
Next up for the seventh-seeded Vineyarders (14-5) is a trip to No. 2 Cohasset (15-2) in the South quarterfinals, Thursday, June 7, at a site and time to be determined.
“We just have to keep up the momentum, take each game one day at a time, and keep on playing as hard as we can, put the ball in the back of the net, have good defense and have our players come out and play the Vineyard way … clean, classy, good sportsmanship, with great spirit and participation by all of our players,” Co-Head Coach Bob Hayman said after the first-round win.
