The girls hockey team has been racking up wins lately as the high school winter sports season inches closer to the playoffs.
Outscoring their opponents 16-6 in their last four games, the girls have skated to a 7-5 record this year with eight games remaining. Last week against Yeti, a co-op team consisting of players from eight different Rhode Island schools, the Vineyarders cruised to a 6-1 win with a pair of goals from MacKenna Metell and more scoring from Abby Geary, Hannah Wansiewicz, Ava Mikos and Reese Malowski.
On Wednesday last week, they scored five more goals against Latin Academy for a second straight win, with Metell netting another pair of pucks along with Geary, Mikos and Colby Darcy. The girls made it three in a row with a 4-2 win over Falmouth last Saturday with Darcy getting two this time and Metell and Elle Mone rounding out the scoring.
On Wednesday the girls take on Dennis Yarmouth at home with a chance to avenge a 6-5 loss on the Cape earlier this season to the Dolphins. The puck drops at 4:30 p.m.
The boys hockey team has faced stiff competition in its past few matchups, losing three of its last four. To make matters worse, senior captain Nate Averill is out for the season with a broken leg in the same stretch.
Their lone win came at home against Lowell last Monday in a tight 4-3 victory. Freshman Donny Gregory scored a hat trick and Griffin Callahan added another goal. Holden Brew secured the win in net as the Vineyard’s defense held strong against a relentless Red Raider offense.
On Wednesday, the boys hit the road to play Barnstable with a chance to split the season series with the Red Hawks. In their first matchup on the Island, it was a close one with the Vineyarders falling 2-1. Then, on Saturday, the Whalers come to the Vineyard for the second inter-island tilt of the season. In their first matchup, MV walloped their rivals 10-0. The puck drops at 1 p.m.
Across the street at the high school gymnasium, the boys basketball team won a thriller last Friday at home against Monomoy 55-53 as Jacoby Light hit a buzzer-beater to win it for the Vineyarders. Things looked bleak for MV after they were behind 15-0 to start the second quarter and fell behind by as many as 20 at one point. However, the boys never gave in and slowly chipped away at the Sharks’ lead until they were only down two to start the final quarter.
With the score knotted at 53 each after a Miles Hayes jumper tied it for the Vineyarders, the clock ticked down as Light drove the baseline toward the hoop. Monomoy’s defense closed in as he pulled up for a shot that bounced backboard, rim and in. The crowd went bonkers, students stormed the court and the Vineyarders had a signature win.
Light led the way with 18 points. Hayes added 12 with six rebounds and four steals and Xavier Clarke had eight points and four steals. Their next home game is Saturday at 1:45 p.m. against Nantucket.
The girls basketball team has split their last four games, with wins over Cape Cod Academy 48-41 and Nauset 48-24 and losses to Monomoy and Dennis Yarmouth.
In the win over Cape Cod Academy, Piper Blau had a huge double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Agata Rodrigues also had 16 points in the win. Blau was also the leading scorer in the win over Nauset with 15. Samilly Guimaraes had nine points and eight steals. The girls’ next game is Tuesday in a rematch with Cape Cod Academy at 4:00 p.m.
Recently, the wrestling team had a pair of Vineyarders take home the gold in their respective weight classes at the Brookline Brawl Tournament. Kevin Almeida and Odin Robinson persevered during the two-meet weekend tournament to take the top spot at 138 and 132 pounds.
“They showed out to take some gear home,” assistant coach Joe Pucino said.
Zeb Athearn also placed in the top five of the 175-pound division and won his consolation bracket.
Last week the swim team was busy with two meets, one on the road against Barnstable and the second at home against Nantucket.
Against Barnstable Ronan Mullin qualified for the state championships in the 100 butterfly, winning his race at 57.73 seconds. He is also a member of the boys 200 freestyle relay team which qualified for the sectional championships with a time of 1:40.46. Also on that team are Grady Stalgren, Moses Thomson and Kaua De Assis.
Some other highlights from the meet against Barnstable include the boys 200 medley relay team of Michael Calheta, Mullin Stalgren and De Assis taking first with a time of 1:56.32, and Slyvia Carroll finishing first in the 100 freestyle at 1:06.98.
De Assis also took first in the same event with a time of 55.08. William Simmons was first in the 500 free at 6:52.59, the girls 200 free relay team of Carroll, Nora Motahari, Nora Duncheva, and Zoe Treitman placed 1st at 2:11.72 and the boys 400 free relay team of Nicholas Merriam, Clovis Smith, Philip Pruciano, and Max O’Brien placed 1st at 5:44.79.
Against the Whalers, the boys eked out another win, 85-81, to stay undefeated in divisional matchups. It was the Vineyarders’ final home meet of the season and it proved to be their toughest yet.
“The boys really wanted to finish the season undefeated and to win the overall dual meet record. So, losing to Nantucket wasn’t an option for us.” Coach Jennifer Passafiume said.
In the final race of the meet, the 400 free relay, the Vineyarders were down two points to their rivals. After originally planning to split up their relay teams, at the last second MV decided to stack the A relay team and hope for first and third finishes to secure them the points they needed to win.
Ronan Mullin, Moses Thomson, Anthony Pruciano and Kaua De Assis nabbed first place and Paul Steyer, Max O’Brien, Philip Pruciano and William Simmons delivered in third to narrowly put the Vineyard ahead of Nantucket for the overall win.
“It was an emotional moment for the whole team,” Coach Passafiume said. “Our girl’s team is the smallest in the league, so while we may not win the meet overall, each girl on the team is really getting faster and stronger and continues to show at each meet.... I am so proud of everyone that competed today.”
The indoor track team has concluded the final two Cape and Islands meets of the season before the league championship on Saturday. The top Vineyard finishers in meet five were Madison Mello in first with a shot put toss of 31’08, Enzo Reis in second in the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.28, Luis Costa in third in the 600m at 1:30.94, Broden Vincent in fourth in the one mile at 5:13.37, Emma Squire in fifth in the same event at 6:19.67 and Kaniel Morgan tossing the shot put 36’10.5 for fifth place.
In the sixth and final Cape and Islands meet, Costa took first in the 800m with a time of 2:14.46, Reis was second in the 55m hurdles at 8.47, Squire was third in the one mile with a time of 6:10.98, Vincent was fourth in the 1000m at 3:01.66 and Morgan placed fifth in the 300 at 40.48.
Finally, and most recently in indoor track action, Mello placed third out of 43 participants from all over the commonwealth in the shot put at the coaches invitational held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. Her throw measured 35’06.
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