The Vineyard girls’ hockey team continued a solid showing in league play this week, picking up two wins to move to a 5-3 record. They are 4-2 in the Southeastern Massachusetts Girls Hockey League after defeating opponents Scituate and Hanover.

Head coach John Fiorito described the Scituate game as the Vineyard’s “best team effort” to date, with the victory all the more sweet because the Vineyarders came up short in both meetings with the league-winning Sailors last season. Last Saturday, however, the team powered to a 3-0 away win, with sophomore Sydney Davies scoring two goals and sophomore Aubrey Ashmun notching an assist.

Senior captain Emily Cimeno potted an unassisted goal in the second period that was “by far the nicest goal we’ve had all year,” coach Fiorito said. Cimeno broke away in an end-to-end rush, maneuvering behind the net before making her move against Scituate’s goalie.

The Vineyard goalie, senior Texe Craig, recorded her second straight shutout and eighth consecutive shutout period with 25 saves against Scituate. Craig extended her streak to nine periods during Wednesday’s game against Hanover, stopping 24 of 26 shots.

“They very easily could have beat us; they outshot us,” coach Fiorito said of the game. The seasoned Vineyard offense, however, shone through in the end.

Senior captain Kassidy Bettencourt scored the first goal of the Hanover game on an assist from Ashmun in the first period. Hanover tied it up in the second, but Cimeno scored another unassisted goal late in the period to regain the lead. The third period brought an early Hanover goal to make the score 2-2, and with four minutes remaining, Bettencourt scored on a power play. She was assisted by Cimeno and Ashmun.

The JV team played their first home game of the season against visiting Bishop Stang, who is trying to create a varsity girls’ hockey team of their own. Stang is in much the same position the Vineyard was 13 years ago when they formed their first team, and is scheduling exhibition matches before making the full jump to varsity status. Because Stang was short enough players for a full side, the Vineyard “donated some players” to the other side, including a goalie. The Vineyard side won 4-3.

The girls play their first home game in a month against Norwell on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, the boys defeated the Nantucket Whalers 5-0 last Saturday, but took a tough loss in their opening Eastern Athletic Conference game against rival Coyle and Cassidy.

Last year, the team beat Coyle for the first time at home. On Wednesday the Vineyarders fell 6-3 in a fast, physical match-up on home ice.

Coyle scored two goals in the first two minutes of the game, but senior Max Davies put the Vineyard on the board midway through the first period. Junior Sam Burke evened the game with just under 10 minutes to go in the second period on an assist from sophomore Matt Davies, flipping the puck past Coyle’s senior goaltender Brent Petrowski on a rebound. Coyle scored twice more before the period was over. The Vineyard kept fighting, and scored with two minutes remaining in the period on a beautiful shot from senior Brian Fraser to make the score 4-3 entering the third. Burke and junior Tyson Araujo notched the assists on Fraser’s goal.

Neither team found the net for much of the third; although the Vineyard outshot Coyle, Petrowski was up to the task. Coyle extended its lead after a rush with 2:41 to go in the game, and landed its final shot with 24 seconds left after the Vineyard had pulled goalie Wyatt Jenkinson in favor of more offense.

The team is now 6-2 on the season, and 0-1 in the EAC. The boys continue league play this week with away games against Bishop Stang and Bishop Feehan.