The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School varsity girls soccer program is steamrolling their way through the fall season. In the final weeks, they are holding first place in the Cape and Islands League standings, and are on a roll, winning their last two games in shutouts to continue a five-game winning streak.
The Vineyard girls are now 11-3-1 overall and 5-0-1 in the Cape and Islands League, defeating the second-place Nauset Regional High School Warriors on Tuesday in a close 1-0 matchup, and the Milford High School Scarlet Hawks last Saturday in a 1-0 finale. Freshman goalkeeper Lucy Doyle (No. 1) earned her seventh and eighth clean sheets of the season.
In the game against Nauset, the Vineyarders gritted through a defensive-focused first half, with neither team finding the net.
In the second half, the Vineyarders flipped the script, ramping up pressure and dominating possession in Nauset’s end of the field, outshooting the Warriors 11-4. Nauset staged some counterattacks through long passes to the Warriors’ Nina Swaby (No. 4), Madeleine Coccoro (No. 3), and Eloise MacMillan (No. 6), but the Vineyard’s strong defensive line, who have been paramount to the team’s success all season, quelled all opportunities except three, where Doyle stepped in to make some saves.
The deciding play came in the final two minutes, when a Nauset clearance was intercepted by Laney Light (No. 2). Light threaded a pass to senior captain Elle Mone (No. 10) who made a clean pass to sophomore striker Iyla Story (No. 11) on a diagonal entry, splitting Nauset’s center backs. As Story entered the box, Nauset’s Caroline Lovati-Brown (No. 12) slid for a tackle, fouling the young Vineyard striker to earn the Vineyard a vital penalty kick. Mone stepped up to the mark, and delivered a hard and low shot just under Nauset’s diving goalkeeper, sealing the 1-0 win for the Vineyard girls.
Against Milford on Saturday, the two teams were evenly matched, with the Vineyard edging a slight 12-10 shot advantage.
The game-winning goal came 27 minutes into the first half, when Story dropped back to pick off a Milford midfielder pass, and quickly turned it around for a counterattack. Ava Townes (No. 4) read the play and made a break from outside the field into the middle to split Milford’s center backs and receive a threaded pass by Story to break their back line. Head-to-head with Milford’s goalkeeper, Townes slipped the ball past the keeper’s outstretched arms to the far post. Milford pressed the Vineyarders hard for the remainder of the match, but the Island’s back line, supported by goalkeeper Doyle, held firm. Doyle made eight saves to preserve the Vineyard lead.
“Player of the game for MV was freshman outside back Avery Conley, who played consistently all game and had to cover a very talented and strong Milford winger,” said Head Coach Matt Malowski in an email to The Times.
The Vineyarders have a challenging schedule in the final weeks of the season, with Sandwich on Thursday, Oct. 16, Falmouth on Oct. 22, and Island rivals the Nantucket Whalers on Oct. 25 on the sister Island.
