Martha’s Vineyard rallied from a two-goal deficit at the end of the third quarter and edged the Falmouth Clippers, 9-8, in Cape and Islands League interdivisional play, Tuesday afternoon at Dan McCarthy Field in Oak Bluffs.
The Vineyarders (3-3) trailed 4-2 at halftime, and 7-5 after three quarters, before scoring four unanswered goals to lead 9-7 late in the period. The Vineyarders played well throughout the second half, and controlled all aspects of play in the fourth quarter, holding the Clippers scoreless until the final 17 seconds. Braden Sayles gained control from the last face-off and ran out the clock to preserve the win. Hunter Meader scored what proved to be the game winner with 3:56 left in regulation, and finished with four goals for the game. Eli Gundersen was another standout, and scored twice. Ed Cherry, Josh Brown, and Aiden Marek also scored for MV. Cherry and Aiden Conley each had assists.
Vineyard goalie Graham Stearns was absolutely stellar between the pipes, stopping 19 Falmouth shots in the first half, and 27 overall.
“We talked about having heart at the half, and that was really what I felt we were lacking. It wasn’t even about x’s and o’s,” Vineyard Coach Chris Greene said. “We needed to pick up ground balls. We did that better in the second half. We did a lot better on the face-offs. I made that change bringing the long pole [long stick midfielder] Braden Sayles up, which is probably something we’re going to stick with for the rest of the season.
“What do I say about Graham Stearns, the goalie? Nineteen saves in the first half, and 27 for the day. What do you say about probably the best goalie, for sure, on the Cape, and, maybe, one of the top two or three in the state? My opinion, obviously. What do I say about Eli Gundersen? Stepped up in the second half, led the charge. Hunter Meader, obviously, had the goals on the day with four, but I can’t say enough about the energy on the ride [forechecking] that Eli brought. We kind of got ourselves together with the man up a little bit, and we just decided to show up in the second half. I’ve been waiting for that for weeks. Even in the wins, I’ve been waiting for the heart, and today we got some. It was huge.”
Next up is a rematch with Nantucket at home on Saturday, starting at 12:30 pm.