By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
It was a tough stretch for the boys soccer team this week. Despite putting in solid performances against challenging opponents, the Whalers lost three starting varsity players to injury, most likely for the season.
In front of a raucous home crowd last Wednesday, Nantucket lost to rival Division II Martha’s Vineyard 2-1, before traveling off-island for back-to-back tie games against Division II Norwood, 3-3 and Division III Coyle Cassidy, 1-1.
Against Norwood on Saturday, Philipe Bazilio and Bryan Tarcitano left the varsity game with a shattered ankle and possible torn ACL, respectively and freshman Jose Ramirez left the junior varsity game with a severe ankle sprain. In addition to Devon Kohler who was sidelined with a broken wrist earlier this season, the Whalers are playing without four starters.
“Even though we have lost four guys, we still have a really good soccer team. Our guys proved that this weekend. When we played down against Norwood and down against Coyle Cassidy, those are teams that could have beat us,” head coach Rich Brannigan said. “Players we have left who are healthy can still get us to where we want to be. Everyone knows getting to the playoffs is first priority and winning the Lighthouse conference along the way is as well. That is what we are aiming for and I think they will be all right.”
The Whalers (2-2-3) will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home against South Shore Christian and on Saturday also at home against Methuen.
Against Coyle Cassidy last Saturday less then 24 hours after losing three players to major injury, the Whalers played a solid game, with junior varsity call-ups Will Lendway, Emil Bender and Luke Daniels lending a hand. Nantucket made a few changes to compensate for the missing players, including starting Henry Farrell at striker, moving Carl Stevens to stopper and Martin Manov to the defense.
“They are totally flexible and understood the fact that they would have to play in different positions,” Brannigan said. “We played with some spirit and some consistency in the first half. I didn’t know what to expect after the day before.”
Emerson Gouzman put the Whalers on the board early in the first half with the first goal of the game.
With only two subs at their disposal, Nantucket felt the effects of a short bench in the second half. Coyle Cassidy with 10 subs available came out strong and put pressure on the Whalers’ net. After 25 minutes of possession, Coyle Cassidy scored midway though the half.
The Whalers had some opportunities to re-take the lead. Stevens earned a penalty kick with only five minutes remaining in the game. Jasper Young took the kick and knocked the ball off the square post missing out on the opportunity.
Against Norwood on Saturday, Tarcitano scored the first goal of the game 14 minutes in to give the Whalers the early advantage.
But then the injuries started to pile up. Later in the first half Bazilio was tackled, shattering his ankle and in the second half Tarcitano planted and turned and went down with a knee injury. Ramirez re-injured an existing ankle injury in the junior varsity game.
“It was just one of those days. Philipe’s injury was a hard hit. It was a tackle so that one was a direct result of a hard hit. The other injuries were just sort of run of play. It was a bad day,” Brannigan said.
Norwood took the momentum and started piling up the goals, scoring three straight to take the 3-2 lead over Nantucket.
In the 80th and final minute of the game, the Whalers earned a penalty kick and Young converted the opportunity to tie the game at the whistle and hand the Whalers their third tie of the season.
Under the lights on Wednesday night, the Whalers clashed with the Vineyard in another playoff-level match.
The Vineyard put a lot of pressure on the Whalers net in the first half. Russell Bartlett made some key saves early and Carlos Portillo made an open net kick save with the goalie caught out of net to keep the game scoreless.
The Whalers had their best chance of the half when Bazilio was taken down in the box during a break on net at the 20 minutes mark. Bazilio took the penalty kick and sent it to the goalie’s left on the ground, but the Martha’s Vineyard keeper made the diving stop.
With six minutes remaining in the half, the Vineyard scored the only goal of the half. Ryan Dwane took the direct kick form beyond the midfield line.
Bartlett went up for the save, but collided with a Vineyard player rushing the goal. The ball tipped off his finger tips and into the net to give the Vineyard the 1-0 advantage.
“We played much more aggressive in the second half. We had the Vineyard on their heels in the second half,” Brannigan said. “I was pleased to see the guys adjust to the competition and put pressure on the Vineyard. It was everything we expect from a Vineyard Nantucket game.”
Bartlett was put to work early in the second half as the Vineyard pounded the Whalers net with shots. With just under 18 minutes left in the game, Nicolas Cuba had a direct kick just outside the box. He sent the ball over the wall of Whalers defenders and just out of reach of a diving Bartlett for the ensurance goal.
Manov and Stevens each had breaks on the Vineyard net, but the Whalers finally broke through with only six minutes remaining. Stevens took the ball into the box on a break and was taken down by a Vineyard defender to earn the penalty kick. Young took the honors and placed the ball in the top left corner to put the Whalers on the board.
Nantucket had multiple chances in the final minutes of the game as their rhythm of play stepped up a notch looking for the equalizer. The score would never come as the Vineyard flew home with the victory.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com
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