By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
This fall marked the best regular season ever for Nantucket High School boys soccer. The Whalers attacked their schedule like a skier on a slalom course, gracefully making every turn with perfection.
Nantucket reeled off 10 straight wins, before being tripped up by a tough Martha’s Vineyard squad in the final game of the season.
Their final regular season record of 14-3-1 is the best in the team’s history. The previous record of 10 regular-season wins and 12 total wins was shattered on the road to the postseason. The Whalers’ 6-0 mark in the Lighthouse Conference also earned them their third-straight league crown.
The boys soccer team clinched a spot in the Division III state tournament by midseason and worked to secure homefield advantage.
“We didn’t really make a big deal about it. The guys know there is still a lot of work to be done. It felt good that we took care of this a little earlier than normal, but there is still soccer to play. The guys know how important seeding is, so we didn’t want to give too much importance to qualifying,” head coach Rich Brannigan said at the time.
When seedings were announced, Nantucket had earned a seven seed, their first-ever preliminary round bye and homefield advantage in the first round.
Also reclaiming a spot in the record books this season, Caio Correa broke his own single-season school point total record of 40, which he set last season as a freshman. The sophomore leading scorer scored totaled 32 goals and 23 assists (55 points) this season. Last season Correa scored 31 goals and added only nine assists.
Correa was recognized in The Boston Globe as the top point leader in Eastern Massachusetts High School boys soccer for much of the season as well as in a feature story in Sports Illustrated in early November. Correa not only made the team better by his ability to score goals, but also made his teammates better by drawing attention and knowing when to dish off the ball for the assists.
“It is a good sign of his maturity as a player, and his maturity level is growing. His assist total is more than three times what it was for all of last season. He is getting other people involved in the game and involved in scoring, which takes pressure off him,” Brannigan said.
The Whalers notched 11 other goal-scorers this season including freshman Philipe Bazilio with nine goals, Martin Manov with six and Yuvi Montenegro and Caleb Mitchell, each with five goals. Toby Glidden, Alvaro Castro, Beau Garufi and Harrison O’Rourke scored three times apiece, while Steven Cranston, Sebastian McFarlane and Noah Keller each scored once.
The Nantucket defense of Henry Farrell, John Gray, Jasper Young and Glidden protected goalie Russell Bartlett in net. The Whalers notched six shutouts in 18 games.
The boys team opened the season in early September 1-2, with a win over Coyle Cassidy sandwiched between losses to Martha’s Vineyard and Falmouth. The Whalers would not lose again until Oct. 30 against the Vineyard.
Nantucket defeated Lighthouse League opponents Cape Cod Academy, Provincetown, and Sturgis twice each, in addition to wins over Chatham, Scituate and Norwood twice each as well.
Martha’s Vineyard came to the island for the final game of the season on the football field under the lights in a playoff-type atmosphere. The strong Division II program defeated the Whalers, 2-0, but it wasn’t an easy victory for the South Coast League leaders.
“We weren’t successful as far as results went, but we played with them. They possessed the ball, but it’s good to know that we can play with a team like the Vineyard heading into the playoffs,” Brannigan said.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com
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