By
David Creed •
The first Whaler sports roundup of 2024 is led by the field hockey team who for the first time in 20 years, came away with a victory over Dennis-Yarmouth. The volleyball team also earned a victory in their first game of the season, the girls soccer team defeated Rising Tide, the golf team lost to St. John Paul II, and the boys soccer team tied Rising Tide.
Genthner’s Goal Lift Whaler Field Hockey Over Dennis-Yarmouth
Senior Claire Genthner scored the game-winning goal for the Whaler field hockey team on Wednesday to propel Nantucket to a 2-1 victory over Dennis-Yarmouth in their season/home opener. It was the first time in 20 years that Nantucket’s field hockey team defeated Dennis-Yarmouth.
“I think Claire is the epitome of what a teammate should be,” head coach Dan Weber said. “So I’m really happy for her to have that moment. I thought she played great. But across the board, I think that I’m really impressed with our composure today and our willingness to just stay at it, not get down or up, and just keep going. When you do the little things right, then the results happen. You can’t be too results based. If you’re hoping for a goal all the time, it’s not going to happen. You need to do the things that lead to getting the goal, and I thought that we did that.”
“They were really, really focused,” co-head coach Elizabeth Weber added. “They didn’t get ahead of themselves or anything. They went minute by minute.”
Genthner’s goal came with 7:44 to go in the game, and some strong defense led by Sophia Yelverton and Mayson Lower helped Nantucket close it out.
Overall, it was a team effort that ultimately sealed the deal. Dan Weber said it was encouraging to see the growth from his team from a preseason scrimmage against DY two weeks ago to Wednesday’s season opener.
“I thought we improved where we needed to on defense from that play day game,” he said. “I think we were incredibly resilient today, and I would characterize DY as a very resilient team the times we have played them. I think that we took that energy today and tried to be like them.”
“DY does the little things in field hockey that are the fundamentals, the first thing you hear when you pick up a stick very, very well,” Elizabeth Weber added. “Protecting your feet, playing low, and being first to the ball. They’re great at that, and so that’s what we worked on for two weeks.”
DY struck first in the game with 2:25 to go in the first quarter. Senior Suz Peraner scored the Whaler’s first goal to tie the game 1-1.
“Across the board, I think the girls were just awesome,” Dan Weber said. “I thought in that second half, we made corrections at halftime, and they went out and implemented them. They stayed composed, and they were ready to play that game.”
“They played beautiful hockey,” Elizabeth Weber added. “That is what it is supposed to look like, and that’s what they did today.”
The Whalers face another tough test on Friday, September 6 when they travel to face the Monomoy Sharks, one of Div. 4’s top teams at 3:30 p.m.
Volleyball Begins New Era With 3-1 Win Over SJP
The Whaler volleyball team beat St. John Paul II 3-1 in their season/home opener on Wednesday – helping new head coach Makaila Lyons earn her first win as the leader of the program.
“It feels so good,” Lyons said after the match about getting her first win/game out of the way. “I know they were nervous, and obviously I do my best to mask my nerves all day today but they pulled it out, played great, did an awesome job, and I am just glad that first match is done and glad to move forward and work on the things we have to work on.”
The Whalers earned a gutsy set one victory 26-24 after falling behind 17-21. They won the second set handily 25-15 after jumping out to an early 14-3 lead. SJP was able to squeeze out a set three win 23-25 to extend the match, but the Whalers quickly bounced back and won the fourth set 25-19.
“I think the first set was definitely just first game jitters for sure,” Lyons said. “There was a lot that was happening that didn’t happen in practice. There were some rotational issues and things that we just need to really work on. The second set looked a lot better. It was a lot closer to what I was expecting it to look like, and I think they felt that too.”
Bianca Santos led the Whalers with 14 assists while Lyric Pearl had 11 of her own. Rihanna Cranston finished the match with a team-high 11 kills. Vicky Todorova finished with a team-high 13 aces. Cranston had 11 aces. Leah Crowley recorded three blocks.
Lyons said Todorova stood out with her strong play, which has become commonplace for the two-time all-state libero.
“She’s always there,” Lyons said. “I think there was maybe one ball that I was like, “Wow, I’m surprised Vicky wasn’t there.’ But she is there almost all of the time and if she’s not there, it’s so rare. You can’t play without a pass. I’ve coached teams where we had great hitters, we had great centers, but we didn’t have the passing and we never got to show that. So the fact that we have that first step always is so important.”
Lyons also praised the performance of Cranston, who has big shoes to fill in the lineup this year as she takes on the role once held by former captain Chloe Marrero, who graduated last June after four years starting as an outside hitter.
Nantucket will have a few days of practice work to prepare for a road matchup with the Sturgis West Navigators on Monday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m.
Brannigan’s Five Goals Lead Girls Soccer To Win
The Nantucket girls soccer team kicked off their season with an offensive clinic Thursday afternoon at the Nobadeer Turf Fields – beating the Rising Tide Heron 8-1 behind five goals off the foot of senior captain Adney Brannigan.
“Big team win,” head coach Doug LeBrecht said. “Right out of the gate sacrificing themselves for other people. Clear example of that was Molly (Bedell) came all the way across to deny that girl a goal. She was the right outside back and had to go 20 yards to intercept that. That was a big sign of their selflessness. I was very happy from that, and to see our captains like Adney two or three goals into it supporting our backs. We were firing on all cylinders.”
Junior captain Chelsea Gross scored two goals. Junior Sutton LeBrecht scored the game’s first goal.LeBrecht added that he was happy to see the freshmen such as Bedell, Harper LeBrecht, and Grace Schroeder perform well in their first regular season game. He said his bench gives his lineup an advantage they haven’t had in years past.
“We have eight legitimate subs and we roll them 10 minutes in the second half,” LeBrecht said. “It is impressive. We haven’t had that. We haven’t had a full team we can sub. It keeps everyone fresh and ready for the next game because in my eyes, any of these girls could start the next game.”
The Whalers will attempt to improve their record to 2-0 when they travel to the Cape to face the Sturgis East Storm on Tuesday, September 10 at 4 p.m.
Golf Drops Opening Match To St. John Paul II
The Nantucket golf team was on the road Thursday afternoon facing St. John Paul II to begin their season – dropping the match 255-281.
The scores for the Whaler’s golfers were:
David Foley – 41
TQ Scarlett – 43
David Boulter – 44
Ben Freeman – 48
Hunter Bistany – 51
Edward Taveras – 54
Emil Ivanov – 55
Paxton Fitch – 57
Top 6 = 281
SJP Scores:
Sam Scooletti – 39
Brian Skelly – 41
Chris Heywood – 43
Liam Whalen – 44
Bella Sciolletti – 44
Drew Richards – 44
Ollie Alfonso – 45
Griff Mathis – 46
Top 6 = 255
The Whalers will be back in action searching for their first win of the season when they travel to Dennis-Yarmouth on Monday, September 9 for a 3:30 p.m. match.
Boys Soccer Ties Rising Tide
The Nantucket boys soccer team began their regular season on the road Thursday afternoon, and tied the Heron 0-0.
Nantucket did not have a scrimmage in the preseason, which could have led to some early season rust. They will hope to earn their first win on Saturday, September 7 when they travel to Falmouth for an 11 a.m. matchup with the Clippers.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, September 6:
The field hockey team will travel to Monomoy for a 4 p.m. match.
Saturday, September 7:
The football team will host Cardinal Spellman at 11 a.m.
The boys soccer team will be on the road facing Falmouth at 11 a.m.
The field hockey team will be on the road facing Whitman-Hanson at 2:15 p.m.
Sunday, September 8:
No games are currently scheduled.
For more updates on Whaler sports throughout the year, you can follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram here or follow Sports Editor David Creed on X here.
