The girls soccer team lost 3-0 to fourth seeded Norwell in Sunday's second round playoff game, ending a strong season with 12 wins, 2 ties and 6 losses.
The Norwell Clippers entered the game with an 18-1-1 record and although the Vineyarders ended the first half tied at 0-0, Norwell proved too tough in the second half.
Only the football team remains now in postseason play, having defeated Falmouth at home on Friday 41-6.
Boys soccer also began their playoff run on Friday but lost 1-3 in an away game with East Bridgewater.
Girls soccer head Coach Matt Malowski said his team gave it everything they had but Norwell’s consistent pressure on the Vineyard’s defense eventually broke through.
“Goalkeeper Georgia Magden, center backs Sam Warren and Jane Coogan, defensive midfielders, Eleanor Mone, Reese Malowski and Avery Mulvey along with the rest of our outside backs defended Norwell’s front line by frustrating their shot taking, shutting down the top of the box and cutting off passing lanes in and around the box,” Coach Malowski said.
While the Vineyarders did their best to mount a counter attack, Norwell’s relentless defense made it tough for the Vineyarders to find an offensive groove.
Coach Malowski said he and his assistant coach, Cana Courtney, could not have asked more from their players.
“They got applauded by Norwell, earned their respect and their fans and never let up to the final whistle,” the head coach said. “We will miss our seniors, who have laid the foundation to what Vineyard soccer is all about … We thank our fans, our parents, and the entire Vineyard community for all the support we have received.”
On Friday, the girls team opened their playoff run with a strong performance against Greater New Bedford RVT, winning 3-1. The first half saw a 0-0 tie, and a tough Greater New Bedford squad came out hungry in the second half after struggling to find offensive momentum in the first. But eventually the Vineyarders found their offensive rhythm, starting with a beautiful feed from Eleanor Mone to the foot of a flying Elana Giordano towards the net.
Giordano controlled the ball without breaking stride ripped a shot on goal. The Greater New Bedford keeper made a great save but freshman Ava Townes was right there for the rebound and hammered it in for the score.
The second goal started when Vineyard winger Talia Maccaferri dusted her Greater New Bedford defender up the sideline and found Giordano on a perfectly placed pass cutting towards the net. The Vineyard captain made a quick move with the ball and beat the Bears keeper left with a grounder to push MV’s lead to two with nine minutes left to play.
“We realized that Talia was just eating on the right side so that was our game plan for the whole rest of the second half,” Coach Malowski said on Friday after the game. “Just keep getting that ball to Talia and have Elana play the weak side and wait for Talia to play the ball through. We talked about that play at halftime and they really executed it perfectly.”
Less than four minutes later Maccaferri and Giordano linked up on a nearly identical scoring opportunity with the same result to make it 3-0 Vineyard. New Bedford answered almost immediately with a goal on a crossing pass but the Vineyard’s lead held as the final whistle blew and the girls moved on to the next round.
The regular season ended with Elana Giordano leading the team in points with 29; she tallied 18 goals and 11 assists. Emily Coogan followed with 13 points, 10 goals and three assists, and Talia Maccaferri rounded out the top three with 12 points on five goals and seven assists.
For boys soccer, the season concluded in the same fashion that the many of their games have gone this year. While the Vineyard controlled possession of the ball for the majority of the contest, a few costly mistakes turned into goals for their adversaries.
“We played hard, were the better team on the field, but we didn’t have good puck luck to borrow a term from hockey,” coach John Walsh said.
The football team, however, was in total control in their home game Friday night, posting a 41-6 win against Falmouth. After such an emotionally charged battle with Nantucket last week, coach Tony Mottola said it spoke volumes about his team and their maturity to play such a complete game after all the hype surrounding the Island Cup.
“To come off the game we had last week, it was such an emotional game on Nantucket. So trying to get these kids refocused for this was a testament to the coaches and a testament to the kids’ ability to refocus,” Coach Mottola said after the game.
Guilherme Oliveira reached the end zone three times, the last of which was a 90-yard house call down the sideline that left everyone else in the dust. Kaio DeCosta also rumbled for two scores while Jordan Souza ran for a touchdown and Aiden Conley caught a touchdown and had an interception.
“To beat that team, another division five team, the way that we did is just a huge step forward for this program, it really is,” Coach Mottola said.
The football team plays their final game of the season on Thursday against Oliver Amers High in North Easton. The 6-3 Vineyarders have the opportunity to finish the season with seven wins, something that a Vineyard football team hasn’t done in more than a decade.
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