It hasn’t been an easy year for the Whaler girls soccer team. They lost their first ten games of the season, with several of those games being one-goal matches ending with a late goal by the opposing team to sink Nantucket and keep them winless. The Whalers are still searching for their first win, but tied the Barnstable Red Hawks 1-1 Thursday afternoon.
“The game ended in a tie but it feels like a win,” head coach Brian King said. “I think I get the most emotion out of seeing our girls competing and fighting and these bigger schools, you know, you can see they are loaded but to see us at the end of the game still as the aggressor, that pumps me up.”
The Whalers gave up their only goal of the match eight minutes into the game. For most of the game they kept the ball in the midfield or the offensive zone. Goalie Macy Crowell wasn’t forced to make many difficult saves like she has in some games earlier this season, but still stood tall when she was tested by the Red Hawks.
“I know our record is what it is but I think things are starting to click and come together,” King said.
King said he has been preaching two things to his team in practice. Take more shots and get yourself to the front of the net. The Whalers set up camp in the offensive zone for most of the second half but had no goals to show for it. They had position and ball control close to the goal, but Barnstable’s defense stood tall and was able to clear the ball to live for another play
With eight minutes remaining in the game there was a scramble for the ball to the right side of Barnstable’s goalkeeper. Adney Brannigan was able to gain possession and bury the loose ball after being pushed by a Red Hawk defender to tie the game for Nantucket.
“She got pushed really hard and I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a foul called so for her to not give up on it was impressive,” King said. “It was the best of both worlds because I was ready to get on the referee for the non-call before the goal. It worked out.”
The Whalers had several scoring chances in the final minutes but were unable to score again. Claire Misurelli found herself tangled up with a Red Hawk midfielder at the center line and hit to the ground. She immediately picked herself up, dashed into her defensive zone to get back into the play, and caught up to the midfielder to kick the ball out of bounds. That turned out to be Barnstable’s final scoring chance of the day.
“Number 12 who knocked Claire down might be the best scorer in the league and for Claire to get up and back into the play, I mean, that is Claire for you,” King said. “She has blazing speed and is only a sophomore. She has a bright future and she plays very hard. The future is bright for our program.”
The Whalers will travel to Falmouth to take on the Clippers on Thursday, October 14th, at 4 pm.
In other Whaler sports news from yesterday,
Boys Soccer Cruises Past Barnstable
The Whaler boys soccer team couldn’t do anything right in their season opener against the Barnstable Red Hawks in the 4-0 loss. They had their chance at revenge Thursday afternoon on the island and made the most of it with a much stronger performance, winning 6-2 and improving their record to 6-2-1 this season.
“We had some great team goals today and we also had an unassisted goal to begin the game when Dylan Ottani scored his first goal of the season from about 40 yards out,” head coach Rich Brannigan. “It was nice to open up that way followed by Pajorn (Drysdale) who got on the scoresheet with two goals, both assisted by Alejandro Chacon.”
The Whalers went into halftime up 3-0. Brannigan said the message was to refocus and continue to keep the pressure on. The Red Hawks scored early in the second half off a direct free kick to cut the Whaler lead to 3-1. The game went scoreless for about 15 minutes until Chacon scored a goal off assists from Yeison Gregorio Castro and David Lemus-Castro to make it 4-1.
“Then Barnstable scores about two minutes later and we respond 20 seconds later when David gets his first goal of the game off an assist from Max (Beebe),” Brannigan said. “We were able to answer each of Barnstable’s goals. Then freshman Ryan Coleman scored the sixth goal for us, his first varsity goal with five minutes to go.”
The Whaler’s offense continues to become more balanced with each game and the box score shows it with Nantucket having four different goal scorers and five different players with assists. Junior captain Treyce Brannigan played a strong game in the midfield stealing balls and setting a tone the Whalers would ride to their sixth win in their last eight games.
The Whalers will try to improve to 7-2-1 when they travel to take on Sturgis East on Tuesday, October 12, at 3:30 pm.
Volleyball Wins Second In A Row
The Whaler volleyball team beat the Sturgis East Storm 3-1 Thursday afternoon to improve their record to 7-4. The Whalers started out with a 25-19 win in the first set before dropping the second set 23-25.
“We are heading in the right direction and doing the right things but there is work that needs to be done,” head coach Andrew Viselli said. “We need to continue to develop our killer instinct. It isn’t a bad thing to have to work on but it is something we need to continue to develop before state tournament play begins.”
Outside hitters Kacey Riseborough and Chloe Marrero brought that killer instinct to yesterday’s match, finishing with 19 kills and 13 kills respectively. The Whalers didn’t allow the Storm to carry the momentum from a second set win into the third set, soundly beating Sturgis East 25-16 in set three before winning a nail-biter in set four 26-24.
“I really think they can win a state championship and that is why I get hard on them,” Viselli said. “Wins can be the best time to do that because they are feeling good and they can hear you out more. They can take the positives from the win while listening to the negatives more easily and what needs to improve in their game.”
The Whalers will travel to take on St. John Paul II on Tuesday, October 12, at 4 pm.
Golf Splits Pair Of Matches
The Whaler golf team beat Sturgis West 4-2 on Wednesday but lost to St. John Paul II on Thursday 5-1.
The winning golfers against Sturgis West included Evan Belanger who shot a 39, Henry Kathawala, who continues to be one of the Whalers most consistent golfers, shooting a 42, Colton Chambers shot a 41, and Cosmo Tedeschi shot a 44.
The Whalers are 4-8 this season and will host Rising Tide on Tuesday, October 12, at 3:45 pm.
