During the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s homecoming weekend against their Island rivals — deemed “The Battle of the Atlantic” — the girls and boys varsity soccer teams split the bill during two intense matchups.
The girls’ team defeated the Whalers 2-0, while the boys fell 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a scoreless end of regulation.
Other homecoming matchups saw the girls’ varsity field hockey team fall 0-5, with junior varsity field hockey losing 3 – 1. Boys’ junior varsity soccer ended in a 3-3 tie, while the girls’ junior varsity soccer team lost 1 – 0.
In addition to the intern-Island showdown, it was senior day for the Vineyarders. The day was filled with teammates, parents, and thankful coaches giving heartfelt goodbyes to senior players.
On the soccer pitch, the girls’ varsity soccer team opened their game with freshman, sophomore, and juniors reading heartfelt speeches and sharing hugs with their senior teammates.
With the game underway, it was the Vineyard girls’ defense that came up big in the first half, staving off Whalers’ attack after attack.
In the second half, freshman striker Iyla Story (No. 40) made her presence known. After hammering the defense with pressure all game, she finally made a breakthrough and found a seam to dish a crisp centering pass to fellow striker Ava Townes (No. 7). Townes ripped a shot and found the net on the far side, putting the Vineyard up 1-0 with 24 minutes left in the game.
Then again, with under three minutes left, Story earned herself another golden opportunity. But in a desperate attempt to stop her momentum, a Whaler defender tripped her in the box, earning the team a penalty kick.
Junior standout Eleanor Mone (No. 10) was selected for the shot and even though the opposing goalie deflected Mone’s rocket, the ball found its way to the back of the net to give the Vineyarders a 2-0 lead.
That was all the girls team needed to seal the victory to earn them the Golden Anchor Trophy for a second year in a row.
“The key play was that first goal, Ava towns being in the right spot for a perfect shot with the outside of her foot — that was a play we talked about at half time and on the bench,” said head coach Matt Malowski. “We feel great about the season and even sweeter than that … for the seniors to go out and be able to graduate high school undefeated against Nantucket and to beat them at home on homecoming weekend is super special for them.”
Malowski said that he will miss his seniors and their families.
“I love them and I am going to miss them,” he said. “They really do think about their legacy and what they leave behind and I’m going to miss that … it’s not always in the forefront of some teenagers minds but it is for them and I love that.”
Following the girls’ game, the boys’ varsity soccer team took the field in an intense match. The first half was scoreless as both teams acclimated to the urgent pace of the game. In the second half, Vineyard goalkeeper Finn Macleod made a crucial save, giving his team an opportunity to pull out a win through a shoutout. Center backs Caleb Dubin (No. 12) and Kaio Sampio (No. 6) managed constant Whaler pressure and Yuri De Moraes (No. 8) caused chaos on defense for the Vineyard team.
But despite their efforts, the Vineyarders fell to Nantucket, 4-2 in the shootout, passing their Golden Anchor trophy back to Nantucket.
“It was hard fought but kind of sloppy,” said head coach John Walsh. “We’ve had a hard time putting it together the last couple weeks.”
“We are hard to score on obviously but that franticness we play defense with transfers into offense and then we are frantic on offense and we lose the ball,” Walsh added.
To all the seniors and their families, Walsh gave a hearty thanks.