Nauset Girls Lacrosse Bounces Back, Pulls Away From Martha’s Vineyard

NORTH EASTHAM – The Warriors were hungry to get back on track.

After struggling to find the back of the net during the second half of its 11-9 loss to Falmouth on Thursday, the Nauset girls lacrosse team was eager to return to form when it hosted Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday morning.

The Warriors did just that, cruising to an 8-4 victory to improve its record to 6-3 on the season.

“It was definitely huge to come back and win after that tough loss,” said senior Sienna Reeves, a Brewster resident who anchored the scoring with four goals. “We all went into today knowing what our outcome should be and what it was going to be.”

Playing without senior co-captain Coral Punch, Nauset received a boost after a pair of early goals by sophomore Julia Kipperman. Reeves demonstrated her prolific scoring touch while senior captains Ali Hawk and Allie Higgins also found the back of the net.

“It feels good because I felt like I brought some energy to the team,” said Kipperman, a Brewster resident. “From the two goals, we were able to keep it up and keep the momentum going. It felt good to bring up the team and give them energy for how we want to play.”

While Kipperman and Reeves have been consistent scorers alongside Punch, the team’s game plan allowed Hawk to score her first goal, which drew the biggest reaction of the day from the Warriors.

“We had said to the defense, ‘If you’re having a hard time in transition, just take it down and make sure someone stays back,’” Nauset coach Heather Stevens said. “For Ali, she has always wanted to do that, so that was fun for her today.”

As strong as the team’s scoring was, its defense led by Hawk and fellow senior captain Gabby Foster helped slow down the Vineyarders in front of junior goalie Sophia Boucher.

The unit was especially strong when the Warriors found themselves shorthanded during penalties.

“I’m definitely proud of how they played two people down,” Stevens said. “That takes a lot. They communicated and were able to be there for each other on the field and not get down, and that definitely made a huge difference, I think, from the last game to this.”

The result was exactly what Nauset had hoped for entering the game, but the fashion in which the team played is what really made the players proud. After feeling as though they let one get away against Falmouth, the players were happy to execute and return to form en route to a victory.

“It was good because we were able to pick up the pace from how we played last game,” Kipperman said. “We got back on our grounders and picked up on the things we weren’t able to do during practices and were able to bring it together as a team and have the energy we needed.”