Girls hockey team falls short
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School girls hockey team went into its last week of play needing a couple of wins to extend its season. Unfortunately, the team’s first season under Coach Geoghan Coogan came to an end with three straight losses to Latin Academy, Norwood, and Nantucket.
“We didn’t finish out the season the way we had hoped,” Coach Coogan wrote in an email. “Not what we drew up, as we hoped to capture at least two wins out of those, and clinch a state tourney berth. But the puck just wouldn’t bounce for us, despite some real good efforts.”
The team finished the year with an 8-12 record and a bright future.
“We made a lot of progress this year in spite of many obstacles. Between COVID-related illnesses, injuries, and other factors, we had exactly one game — our first of the season — with our full roster,” Coach Coogan wrote. “We may have had a handful of practices with our full squad as well. Even through that adversity, we won the home Nan Rheault tournament for the first time in many years, and came very close to a state tourney berth.”
The team has just one graduating senior, which offers reason for optimism for the 2022-23 season under Coach Coogan.
“Even though we ended on a down note, the big picture is very positive,” he wrote. “We have one departing senior, and a good crew of younger players coming up over the next several seasons. Hopefully next year we are beyond the reach of COVID impacts, and we can settle down and continue the positive trend and keep working toward the goal of a state tourney berth.”
Boys hockey team is playoff bound
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys hockey Coach Matt Mincone is hoping he’s not seeing a trend from the last two games of the regular season. In both games, his team was down by one goal in the final minute, only to score the tying goal in both with 9.4 seconds to go.
In a game against Dennis-Yarmouth last Wednesday with the league title on the line, Coach Mincone said his team was not playing to its full potential.
With 9.4 seconds on the clock and goalie Graham Stearns on the bench in lieu of a sixth skater, Chase Grant was able to put a puck in the back of the net on a set play. “The percentages for that type of play to work are rare,” Coach Mincone said.
In overtime, the team came to life, and was able to score early on to capture the win and the league title. The winning goal came on a pass from Nick BenDavid to Nate Averill, to Frankie Paciello, who lit the lamp.
“We played about two good minutes of hockey that night,” Coach Mincone said. “We were uninspired.”
Still, a win is a win is a win. “We felt good getting the win,” he said. “But we didn’t play well.”
That didn’t bode well for the season finale against Barnstable on senior night. After the festivities, the two teams went up and down the ice, with Barnstable holding a 3-2 lead in the final minute of play. Once again, Stearns went to the bench and, once again, the team scored with 9.4 seconds on the clock, with Frankie Paciello scoring off a rebound.
That’s the way that contest would end, and the Vineyarders ended their season 13-3-1, with nine of those wins decided by one goal. Five of those games went into overtime, which resulted in four wins and one tie.
The team was 7-1 in league action, leading to a sixth seed in the 32-team Division 4 playoffs. And while that bracket includes teams from across the commonwealth, MVRHS drew a familiar opponent in Mashpee/Monomoy for the opening round. While the Vineyarders defeated Mashpee/Monomoy 2-1 earlier this season, it was another nail biter for the cardiac kids. That game is scheduled for Thursday at home at MV Ice Arena. Should the Vinyarders win that game, they’ll have a home game again on Sunday, against either Nantucket or Rockland, Coach Mincone said.
“We’ve got vacation this week, so we’ve been practicing at 10 am every morning,” Coach Mincone said. “They’re ready to play. We had five games in eight days, and now we’ve been off for a week. They want to play.”
The coach feels good about his team as the postseason begins. As we’ve reported frequently throughout this season, there have been contributions up and down the lineup, including from a trio of freshmen who are linemates.
“These guys don’t quit,” Coach Mincone said of his team. “We’re an opportunistic team. We have to come out of the gate a lot faster.”
MVRHS boys hoopers head to playoffs
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys basketball team is headed to the playoffs after a statement 65-58 victory over Nantucket.
The win over Nantucket qualified the team for the playoff tournament, but the team closed out its regular season with two losses versus Apponequet, 66-60, and Bishop Stang, 56-51, last week.
Head Coach Mike Joyce told The Times that the team had a lack of energy coming off their Nantucket win, and Apponequet and Bishop Stang are both top 30 teams for their division, and are both in the playoffs.
“It would have been nice to grab a win or two, and possibly get a home game, but it looks like we will be traveling,” Joyce said.
The team now waits for seeding to be placed either Friday or Saturday, but it’s possible the team could play Shawsheen Vocational.
The boys season has been a strange one — the team has only had its complete roster for two games this year, due to COVID-19 and other injuries. “I am really proud of how the kids hung in there and scraped out some tough wins,” Joyce said.
Assistant Head Coach Kane Araujo told The Times the season has been enjoyable. “It’s been an awesome experience having a lot of these guys with JV,” Araujo said. “We’ve battled through a lot of adversity this year.”
The boys team began the season 2-8 before running off eight wins in a row, which Joyce said is a testament to the team’s character and resilience.
“We are a very young team, with only two seniors, Ty Mathew and Nico Arroyo, so it will be a good experience for the younger guys to play in some playoff games,” Joyce said.
After seeding takes place this weekend, the boys will likely be on the road for their first playoff matchup this week.
