Monomoy Boys Soccer Falls To Nantucket

HARWICH – The scoring chances were few and far between for the Sharks.

After allowing an own goal in the fifth minute of Thursday’s Cape and Islands League Mariner Division tilt against visiting Nantucket, the Monomoy boys soccer team struggled to find some rhythm. 

Senior Ryan Laramee netted the Sharks’ lone goal, as the team dropped a 3-1 decision to the Whalers. 

“We gave up a goal early, five minutes in, and that changed things right off the bat,” Monomoy coach Keith Clark said. “We were chasing right from the get-go, and that causes a little more urgency and sometimes the ball doesn’t play like you’d like it to.

“We didn’t create enough quality chances. Most of our chances weren’t really that good.”

Laramee tied the game 1-1 in the third minute of the second half, as he fielded a pass from fellow senior Finn Hyora and made a Nantucket defender miss before firing a low shot into the net. 

The momentum didn’t last long, however. The Whalers regained a 2-1 lead with 28:28 remaining after freshman Aldo Lemus buried a header before another freshman, Stoyan Popov, put home a pass from senior Jake Johnson to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage with 10:08 to play.

“I thought our goalkeeper (Tyler Layton) played well,” Clark said. “He’s a freshman and he’s getting it and his distribution is good. We played well in the back, but we still allowed three goals. I think a lot of that has to do with our midfielders not getting back and we weren’t able to hold onto the ball long enough.”

Monomoy followed Thursday’s loss with a 4-2 loss to Dennis-Yarmouth in another Mariner Division battle Friday afternoon. That loss moved the Sharks to 6-5-1, as they have posted a 2-4-1 record in their past seven games. 

Clark was quick to praise Nantucket and the team’s other division rivals for providing a challenging Cape and Islands slate, while also noting the Sharks had a tough stretch with four games in the span of six days.

“The overall quality of the Mariner Division is up there with St. John Paul II, Nantucket, D-Y, ourselves and Sturgis West,” Clark said. “This was a tough one because we played Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, so the load is a little heavy on these guys.”

While Laramee, his younger brother Tate, a sophomore, and seniors Niko Vujosevic and Seamus St. Pierre have anchored Monomoy’s scoring efforts during its first dozen games, Clark credited juniors Patrick Jordan and Patrick McMahon for helping to set the tone for the team’s defense.

“Those two guys are defensive midfielders and have really been reading the game well and taking out a lot of attacks,” the coach said.

 Monomoy will look to return to its winning ways at Sturgis West on Wednesday after the Chronicle’s deadline. The Sharks will host JP II on Oct. 15 before traveling to Nantucket for a rematch on Oct. 17. They close out the regular season the following week, with home matches against Sturgis West (Oct. 21) and Martha’s Vineyard (Oct. 23) before visiting Falmouth Academy for their regular-season finale on Oct. 25.