MVRHS golfers clinch berth in state championship tourney
The MVRHS golf team took care of business on a cool, blustery Monday afternoon in the MIAA Division 3 South Sectional tournament at Foxboro Country Club, placing third overall among 12 teams to clinch the final berth in the State Division 3 Tournament next Tuesday at Shining Rock Golf Course in Northbridge. Sandwich won the South championship with a score of 328, Mashpee took the runner-up spot with 331, and MV scored 341.
Nick Ben David and Jake Glasgow each carded an 83 to lead the Vineyarders. They also qualified for the individual portion of the state championship tournament. Cam Napior shot 87, Richie Combra, 88, Ryan Harding, 89, and Jacob Silvia, 93. The top four scores out of six were used in the final total.
“The scores were fairly high because the course was set up difficult, and the greens were very fast,” Vineyard Coach Doug DeBettencourt said. “It was a cool and windy day. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m pleased with the result. I thought we were a year away from being able to get into the state finals, so I was pleasantly surprised and quite pleased at how well the kids did.”
Field hockey wins two
The Vineyarders rebounded from a lackluster 1-1 stalemate at St. John Paul II on Oct. 12 with two straight victories, to pull even at 5-5-2 overall. Better yet, the first win came against Cape and Islands League Lighthouse Division rival Sturgis West last Friday in Hyannis, giving MV a 3-0-2 mark in the division, with three Lighthouse games to play.
“Coming away from the St. John Paul game, I was certainly feeling like we did not turn up for that game,” Vineyard Coach Becky Nutton said. “We needed to do better, and every league game matters now. We came in with a lot of focus on not turning over the ball more than necessary and just playing smart, simple hockey, getting our heads all on that same page, and finishing when we had chances in the circle.”
Vivi Hyland, recently moved from the backline to the front, scored in the second quarter. “She has great ball control and composure, and she can just see options on the frontline. She was in the right place at the right time, and pushed it in for us in the circle,” Nutton said. Izzy Blake returned to the Vineyard lineup after missing the last game, and scored the insurance goal in the third quarter, finishing off a fast break with a shot from the top of the circle. “She’s really been a spark on the forward line, so it’s good to have her back,” Nutton said.
The following day, the Vineyarders honored seniors Lily Sebastian and Lila Mikos, and downed visiting Tahanto Regional of Boylston, 5-1. Izzy Blake scored four goals to notch a Texas hat trick, and Alana Nevin scored from Aileen Mahoney.
Vineyard sophomore Reese McCracken earned both wins in net, making six saves against Sturgis West, and seven more against Tahanto.
MV plays a Lighthouse Division game at Sturgis East on Thursday, hosts St. John Paul II in another division game on Saturday at 2 pm, and plays a tough Monomoy team at home Tuesday at 3 pm.
Boys soccer tops Sandwich on late goal
Sometimes good things happen when you just put the ball on net. Such was the case on Tuesday afternoon at Dan McCarthy Field in Oak Bluffs, when Vineyarder Edgimar Lisboa snaked through the Sandwich defense and put a seemingly harmless ball toward the Blue Knights goal, which squirted between the keeper’s legs and trickled over the goal line with 9:40 left on the clock. The goal stood as the lone score of the match, as the Vineyarders claimed a big Cape and Islands League Atlantic Division win.
“When you play on our pitch, sometimes the ball bounces for you and sometimes it bounces against you, but that’s how we scored today,” Vineyard Coach John Walsh said. “I feel terrible about that ball going in for the goalie, but I feel like we deserved that win. I feel like we had more of the ball, and that we kind of played better. We’re struggling a bit to score goals right now, and that was a good one to get. I know it was a freebie, but the balance of play was on our side, and we put together a relatively good defensive performance. My goalie Matheus [Rodrigues] had a couple of monster saves to keep us at 0-0.”
The win over Sandwich was a welcome result for the Vineyarders after consecutive nonleague losses at Cohasset (3-1 on Oct. 13) and Cardinal Spellman at home (3-0 on Oct. 14) put an end to a five-match winning streak. Both were games that Coach Walsh felt the Vineyarders played far better than the score indicated.
“I feel like we really played some nice soccer in the losses,” Walsh said. “It just didn’t come off for us. The Cardinal Spellman coach was really complimentary about our team. He actually said that he thought we won the game, even though we lost, 3-0. So that was a little frustrating. We controlled possession in that game too, but gave up a couple of bad mistakes.”
Against Cohasset, Kaio DaSilva scored the Vineyard goal, sprinting more than 60 yards untouched to finish off a breakaway.
Next up for the Vineyarders (6-6-2 overall, 4-3-2 C&I Atlantic) is a big divisional clash at Nauset on Thursday, followed by the final home match of the regular season on Saturday at 2 pm, against North Reading, and a road tilt at division rival Barnstable on Tuesday.
Girls soccer tops Chicopee Comp, loses at Sandwich
The Vineyarders split a pair of matches last week, starting with a 2-1 nonleague win over Chicopee Comprehensive, which made the long journey from Western Massachusetts for a Saturday matinee at Dan McCarthy Field.
MV jumped on top with a pair of goals in the first three minutes, and held the Colts off the scoreboard until late in the second half.
Elena Giordano scored the first goal, assisted by Ali Dyke, then set up Paige Malowski for a 2-0 lead.
“There were three good goals, both of ours and theirs,” Vineyard Coach Rocco Bellebuono said. “I think we were surprised that we scored two goals as fast as we did. I think Chicopee was shell-shocked from their travel, and it took them awhile to get going. They were a good team.”
Monday afternoon, the Vineyarders traveled to Sandwich for a Cape and Islands League Atlantic Division clash with the Blue Knights and lost, 3-1. The hosts scored all three goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
“For the past week and a half, we’ve been getting ready for the last half of the season,” Bellebuono said. “We’ll get the second game against Sandwich and Nauset, two of the strongest teams. You can’t chase the ball, the only way is to play as a group or unit, stay compact, and play small. You have to understand when to challenge for a ball. After Sandwich scored the first one, we started chasing the ball.”
At halftime, Coach Bellebuono tried to refocus his charges. “I told them, ‘You fell into a trance — get the ball, get the ball — instead of moving off the ball. Stay compact.’” The advice worked. The Vineyarders didn’t win, but they improved. “In the second half we came out and won the half, 1-0,” Bellebuono said.
Paige Malowski scored the Vineyard goal, and Aubrey Holmes assisted. Malowski took a good pass from the back, used her quickness to find space, and created a one-on-one before putting the ball into the top right corner. “Paige took her time with her own skill instead of frantically taking the shot,” Bellebuono said. “She held the ball for a split-second longer, and placed the ball where she wanted it to go. That’s her level of maturity and composure.”
The Vineyarders have a string of home games ahead. All are 3 pm starts. Nauset visits on Thursday, John O’ Bryant on Monday, Barnstable on Tuesday, and Dennis-Yarmouth on Oct. 28, before MV closes out the regular season at Nantucket on Oct. 30.
