Sports Roundup: Field Hockey Advances To Round Of 16

This Whaler sports roundup includes updates on the field hockey team after they earned a home win to advance to the Round of 16, the volleyball team after their season came to an end, and a look ahead to the field hockey team’s next game, as well as the boys & girls soccer team’s round of 32 matchups later this week.

Lombardi’s Goal Lifts Whalers To Opening Round Victory

The Nantucket field hockey team is advancing to the Round of 16 following a 1-0 victory over the #24 seeded Westport Wildcats Saturday afternoon in their Round of 32 matchup.

The Whalers, who are ranked #9 in the Div. 4 state tournament bracket, rode some strong defensive play, lots of offensive zone time, timely goaltending by junior Shelbi Harimon, and a timely score by senior captain Maddie Lombardi to victory.

“I thought we played well. I thought we played well enough to win a playoff game and anytime you win a playoff game that’s good,” Whaler head coach Dan Weber said. “But I know, and the girls know, we have another level above that to go to, and I think we’re going to need that in our next game against Quabbin. We’re going to need to play a step up from today. But you know, no one’s ever going to be complaining about winning a playoff game. So we will take it, try to make some adjustments, and play just a little bit better.”

Nantucket dominated time of possession through the first two quarters, but had nothing to show for it as the final minutes on the clock began to wane. Then with just over one minute left in the second, the Whalers earned a corner opportunity.

Weber said after the game that his team ran the play beautifully, and it led to their first and only goal of the game after senior captain Mayson Lower dished a pass over to Lombardi – who let a blazing shot go that beat the Wildcat keeper clean and hammered the back of the net. It rewarded the Whalers for their strong first half and gave them a 1-0 lead at halftime.

“All the way around the shot was fantastic, but the girls executed the corner perfectly,” he said. “The insert and then Mayson’s pass was right on the money to Maddie. It led her out just a step-in front of her so she could take it and then the shot was great. She just hammered that. Two people that rarely get on the scoreboard get on the scoreboard, which is great to see in Maddie and Mayson. They play huge roles for us.”

Weber said afterwards that the Wildcat’s defense impressed him and his team with their ability to pack it in in their own zone and give his players very little space to work with. He said as a result, he wasn’t surprised one bit that their lone goal came off a corner opportunity.

“I thought Westport played well,” he said. “They really played tough defensively. They were packing it in and really clogging it up down there. I think there’s a reason why our goal came on a corner and not in run of play. They were just really tossing everybody behind the ball and making it tough to move the ball. So that’s why you got to execute on your corners.”

The Whaler’s offensive time of possession continued to grow, but they did need a pair of stops from Harimon – who was up to the task each time, and their defense.

Harimon had a tremendous leg pad stop with no time on the clock at the conclusion of the third quarter off a Wildcats corner opportunity. Then with under two minutes to go in the game, the Wildcats got another corner opportunity – which was put to an end by Lombardi who strategically cleared it out of danger and away from the Whaler’s end.

“They gave us a couple scares there on transition going the other way,” Weber said. “Shelbi didn’t have a whole bunch to do, but she was ready to go when she needed to, needed to be. That’s all you can ask if she’s just going to sit back there the whole game. It is tough to do that and just sit back there ice cold the whole game. You got to come up big for your team and she did, which is good.”

Nantucket will now travel to face Quabbin Regional High School, who is the #8 seed in the tournament and beat #25 Narragansett 3-1 in the Round of 32. Quabbin finished their regular season 8-7-2. This game will take place on Wednesday, November 6^th at 1:30 p.m.

Below are more photos taken by Nantucket Current Sports Photographer Chris Tran.

Volleyball’s Season Ends Against Sandwich

The Nantucket volleyball team, ranked #19 in the Div. 4 state tournament bracket, saw their season come to an end Sunday afternoon on the road against #14 Sandwich 3-0.

The sets were as followed:

Set One: 14-25 Sandwich

Set Two: 24-26 Sandwich

Set Three: 9-25 Sandwich

Nantucket finished their season 6-15, and they will graduate six seniors:

Vicky Todorova – Captain

Leah Crowley

Ashley Vizioli

Lyric Pearl

Rihanna Cranston

Magdalis Gonzalez

SCHEDULE AHEAD:

Monday, November 4^th:

There are no games scheduled on this date.

Tuesday, November 5^th:

The boys soccer team (10-3-5) and ranked #19 in the Div. 4 state tournament will travel to face #14 Frontier Regional High School (12-2-4) at 1:30 p.m. These teams did not have any common opponents this year.

Wednesday, November 6^th:

The field hockey team will travel to face Quabbin Regional High School, who is the #8 seed in the tournament and beat #25 Narragansett 3-1 in the Round of 32, at 1:30 p.m. in their Round of 16 matchup.

The girls soccer team (10-5-3) and ranked #22 in the Div. 4 state tournament will travel to face #11 Lunenburg (15-1-1) at 2 p.m. These two teams did not have any common opponents this year.

For more updates on Whaler sports throughout their state tournaments you can:

Follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram here.

Follow Sports Editor David Creed on X here.

Follow Sports Photographer Chris Tran on Instagram here.

View all of the state tournament brackets here.