(June 10, 2022) In many of its games this season the girls lacrosse team needed time to settle in but they were ready to go from the opening whistle during Friday’s 17-8 playoff victory over 20-seeded South Hadley.
Cydney Mosscrop scored less than a minute into the game and the Whalers would never relinquish that lead over the final 49 minutes of play.
After a slow start to Wednesday’s 16-3 win over 29-seeded Winthrop, coach Jami Lower said four-seed Nantucket was focused on opening the game better and the Whalers delivered.
“That was a big conversation and just staying settled and taking care of the ball was big and I think they did that,” she said.
Moscrop added five more first-half goals, including the 100th goal of her career, the second Nantucket sophomore to reach that mark this season after Bailey Lower.
“It’s so awesome to watch and I know she was really working for it today,” Lower said. “I know she was kind of keeping tally in her mind and it’s pretty cool when someone does that and they can actually see and go for it and make it happen. Super proud of her, it’s awesome.”
After the game Moscrop said the milestone was a long time coming.
“It’s crazy. It felt really good, I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” she said.
Emerson Pekarcik also joined her fellow sophomore with a double hat trick in the victory, tying for the team lead.
“Her hustle is just really good and she has really good communication with the other players so she’s always there at the right moment,” Moscrop said.
Bailey Lower racked up a team-high three assists and scored three times, including a goal about 18 minutes into the first half where she took control of the draw and took the ball all the way to the net herself for the score.
Ava Moscrop and Evelyn Stahl both scored once. Mimi Belanger made four saves in net with most of the goals against coming from free-position shots, which are very difficult for a goalie to stop.
After South Hadley scored eight minutes into the game to cut the Whalers’ lead to 4-2, Nantucket went on a 10-2 run to close the half and essentially put the game away with a double-digit lead.
The Tigers outscored the Whalers by one over the final 25 minutes but never got within seven goals as Nantucket dominated draw control throughout the contest.
Defensively, Lower said Hannah Evens and Anna Hudzik provided a stabilizing force against the South Hadley attack that scored the most goals against the Whalers since their 12-11 loss to Falmouth last month.
“It was a little scattered on defense and there were a couple of times they kind of just took control and grabbed the ground ball and brought it up,” Lower said.
Nantucket remains at home for its round of eight matchup, taking on the winner of Saturday’s game between five-seed Ipswich and 21-seeded Watertown, the date and time to be announced.
“Moving on, we’ll see. I don’t know who, I don’t know when but we’ll go for it,” Lower said.
