MVRHS girls soccer earn 5-0 win on senior night 

Led by a hat-trick from senior captain Leah Thomson, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School girls soccer team defeated the Nashoba Valley Tech Vikings 5-0 on Saturday during their senior night at home, improving their record to 8-4 overall, and 6-1 in the Cape and Islands League. 

The Vineyarders opened the scoring early in the first half when a corner kick from senior captain Ava Townes led to a scramble in the Vikings penalty box. Thomson recovered the rebound with a quick kick for the first goal of the afternoon. Sophomore Helena Goncalves made it 2-0 for the Vineyarders with a rebound from another scrum in front of the Vikings net that rang the crossbar before entering the net. Thomson scored from just inside the box with a low shot to the bottom left corner to make it 3-0 before the end of the first half.

Townes opened the scoring early again in the second half with a rebound in front of the VIkings net again and put another goal on the board to make it 4-0. Thomson completed her hat trick just a minute later. With 26 minutes left in the game, she walked the ball toward the net from the corner then took a shot across the face of the net to the far side. Thomson was awarded the game ball, and the girls defeated Nashoba Valley Tech 5-0. 

Head Coach Matt Malowski said the Vineyarders played a solid game. 

“They played to their standard,” he said.

But there are some technical things he plans to have the team work on in the coming weeks as postseason approaches in November, such as containing attackers to the perimeter, winning defensive headers, and consistently positioning themselves between the opponent and the goal.

“Those little things matter,” Malowski said. He added that he is very proud of his seniors. 

Makowski credited the win and part of the season’s overall success to the team’s ability to get its wingers wide and create one-on-one situations, which opens space in the middle, he said. 

“When they can do that, it opens it up for the central players,” Malowski said. “Leah had a great game today, and one of the reasons was because she had so much space in the middle because our center midfielders are holding their position, and the wingers are giving us that [space].”

The Vineyarders have been rotating between two different formations, a three- and four-player defensive line, senior captains Thomson, Townes, and Maple Martone said. Thomson said the current alignment is beginning to click. 

“The center mids are holding their positions and then the wingers,” she said. “When Ava [Townes] and Evie [Moffatt] are able to go down the side and then play a cross [pass] or play [the ball] back to the center mids, that’s when we’ve been really good. The more comfortable we’re getting in our formation, the better we’ve been getting.”

Senior captain Laina Dubin, who was out roughly eight weeks with an ankle injury, was cleared for practice Friday afternoon and got a touch on the ball in the first play of the game.

“It felt great,” Dubin said. “It was so fun to be out there with my team. It was nice to be back, and I can’t wait until I can play.”

Malowski acknowledged the challenge of a young roster with only four seniors and a large sophomore class.

“The vision and the attitude and the mindset and all the things these guys have been doing right as well as what we have been doing with such a young team is a testament to the leadership these guys [seniors] show,” he said. “The senior captains’ positivity and camaraderie is carried onto the future players of the team.”

The Vineyarders face a demanding stretch ahead. They were set to host Nauset Regional High School on Tuesday at 3 pm at McCarthy Stadium Field in the teams’ first meeting of the season, but the game was postponed on Monday. Nauset is ranked ahead of the Vineyard and has played in some close games, including a win over Nantucket and a loss to Sandwich. The girls’ soccer team then travels to Sandwich on Thursday for a game at 4 pm and hosts Sutton on Saturday at 2:30 pm. 

“We’re going to play our game, and we’re going to just try and play tough,” Malowski said of the Nauset matchup. For a postseason run, he stressed discipline, especially against stronger teams. “It’s going to come down to defending. They need to be composed, smart, and they can’t step up [too soon]. They just need to contain the players and stand them up.”

Townes said the group’s postseason goal is straightforward: “Make a run like we did last year.”