In the first girls hockey clash between the two islands, Ava BenDavid etched her name in history. The junior forward scored the first six Vineyard goals as the home team defeated the Nantucket Whalers 8-4 for their first win of the season.
The Vineyarders feasted off the energy that comes from playing Nantucket and uncaged their offense in a thrilling game Saturday afternoon at the MV Ice Arena.
BenDavid began the barrage of scoring after Lila Mikos stole the puck while Nantucket was making a line change. Mikos swerved around one Whaler defender then fed a perfect pass to BenDavid who flicked a no-doubter into the back of the net to give the Vineyard an early lead.
Less than a minute later, Nantucket responded with a slapshot goal from close to the blue line. The Whalers had a chance to take the lead on a powerplay, but goalie Amelia Simmons locked in and denied Nantucket a lead with three impressive saves.
The Vineyard then earned a powerplay as BenDavid was tripped after intercepting a pass at center ice. On the ensuing possession, BenDavid broke free from Nantucket’s defense but was tripped again as she attacked the net, earning her a penalty shot. She charged at the goal, faked left, slid the puck to her right and flicked it top shelf to give the Vineyard a 2-1 lead.
At the end of the first period, BenDavid completed the first half of her double hat trick with a close-range wrist shot past Nantucket’s netminder. The buzzer blared and fans in the stands tossed their caps on the ice.
At the start of the second half, the Whalers cut the deficit to one with another long slapshot, but BenDavid netted her fourth and fifth goals with assists from captain Lauren Boyd, boosting the lead to 5-2.
BenDavid’s sixth goal came at the start of the third period as she torched through Nantucket’s defense and flipped the puck past their goalie. However, the Whalers never gave up. They netted two goals less than a minute apart making it 6-4 with six and a half minutes to play. The Vineyard then responded with two goals of their own. Alana Nevin scored the home team’s seventh goal of the contest and Paige Anderson skirted through the teeth of Nantucket’s defense and fired the puck into the back of the net to put the victory on ice.
“It feels pretty good, rewarding for sure. They’re our rivals and it’s exciting to beat them,” Ava BenDavid said after the game.
Head coach John Fiorito agreed. “There aren’t many firsts in your life and career, so we talked about that. Not to add pressure but to take advantage of it. We said you’ll forever be known as the first team to play and beat Nantucket.”
Across the street from the arena, the Vineyard girls basketball team mounted an 11-point comeback to force an overtime against Nantucket. Riley Yuhas scored eight unanswered points, draining two clutch shots from beyond the arc and had a steal she took coast-to-coast for a layup. Sasha Lakis then sank a turnaround jumper to make it 32-31 Whalers with 1:40 left to play.
Both teams then went back and forth trading turnovers until Nantucket missed a shot with 20 seconds remaining. Yuhas secured the rebound and took off for the basket but was fouled on her layup attempt. She then sank one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.
With just over a minute left in OT, Lakis hit a mid-range jumper to knot the score at 35-35. Nantucket then converted a second-chance bucket and kept the Vineyard’s offense at bay for the final 40 seconds as they held on for a 39-35 win against their rivals.
Meanwhile, over on Nantucket, the boys basketball team battled their way to a 63-57 victory. Captain Jared Regan lead the Vineyard with 19 points, five rebounds, two steals and also hit a pair of threes. Rammon Dos Santos posted a double-double — 13 points and 11 rebounds — along with six steals in the winning effort. Aidan Rogers had 17 points, grabbed seven boards and drained three treys, two of which came in the fourth quarter.
Next, the boys face off against former Eastern Athletic Conference rival Bishop Stang Tuesday at home. After winning their first league matchup against the Whalers, the boys are hoping to secure their third straight win and improve their record to above .500 for the first time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Also on Nantucket Saturday, the Vineyard swim team competed in the 14th annual Cape Cod Classic. The boys finished fourth and the girls finished fifth out of the six competing squads. Gabby Carr placed the highest among the Vineyarders taking second in the 200 and 500-meter freestyles. Oliver Dorr placed the highest among Vineyard boys, finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle. Dorr, Nathan Cuthbert, Christian Flanders and Ruairi Mullin also placed third in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Next for Vineyard swimmers is a home meet against Nantucket on Saturday, Jan. 11.
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