The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School field hockey team beat Mashpee 2-0 in their first post-season game on Thursday during the preliminary round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association South Division 2 tournament.
Both goals were scored in the first half of the game, which gave the team some breathing room.
“We just played composed and relaxed,” said coach Lisa Knight after the game. “I told the girls we don’t need to play frantic, we need to play our game.”
Junior Juniper Ezanno scored the first goal with 17 minutes left in the first half. Genny Kent scored the second goal with an assist by Belle Dinning with less than six minutes to play in the first half.
Coach Knight said the team started the game nervous but gained confidence after Juniper scored.
Mashpee was seeded 13th in the tournament with an 11-7-0 record while the Vineyard was seeded 4th with a 12-3-1 record. But Coach Knight said seeds didn’t matter, it’s what the team brings to the game.
“Mashpee came to play,” Coach Knight said. She said the team adjusted to Mashpee’s strategy, assigning Genny to focus on Mashpee’s strongest player.
“We put Genny Kent on #10 and shut her down. She played her man to man and still managed to get down the field and score.”
The Vineyard continued to play strong in the second half, staying on the attack for the first several minutes. When Mashpee broke through, the team kept the ball out of the circle, limiting Mashpee’s ability to score.
After the win, Coach Knight told the girls to savor the feeling and take care of themselves as several members are nursing colds and coughs, but also to stay ready for the next game.
“I just said welcome to the dance, you’ve had you’re first dance, got another one to go.”
On Sunday the team will play at home against the winner of Monomoy and Foxboro.
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