The Whaler girls hockey team lost a thriller to Martha’s Vineyard Sunday afternoon 4-3, with the Vineyard heading home with a victory thanks to a goal in the final 20 seconds of the game.
Mia Beaudette scored two goals for Nantucket, including the first of the game off an assist from Emerson Pekarcik.
The Vineyard went on to score the next two to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. But Nantucket wasn’t ready to fold.
Beaudette was able to pot the equalizer late in the second period to make it 2-2. Both of Beaudette’s goals were off nice wrist shots from the point. The second goal was assisted by senior captain Evelyn Fey. It was 2-2 going into the final period.
Fey took advantage of a power play opportunity early in the third period. It was an unassisted goal that gave Nantucket a 3-2 lead with 11:44 to go in the game.
But the Vineyard was able to regroup and despite Nantucket’s strong effort, the Vineyard went on to score two goals in the final nine minutes of the period, including a goal with 16.7 seconds left in the game to go home with the 4-3 victory.
“These girls just continue to get better,” head coach Liz Collins said. “We were really good on the penalty kill, but we are still taking too many costly penalties. In a game like this where it came down to a few bounces, that can be the difference.”
“Overall it is hard to not be happy with how we played. You never could have guess we were playing the second game of a back to back. We played really hard and I thought our power play looked good, which is something we have been trying to improve.”
Collins said she thought sophomore goalie Caroline Allen may have had her best game of the season Sunday afternoon. For more photos from Sunday’s game against the Vineyard, click here. For more photos from Saturday’s 9-4 defeat at the hands of the Sandwich Blue Knights, click here.
The Whalers will host Barnstable on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.
