HARWICH – It wasn't the happiest of homecomings for the Monomoy girls varsity soccer team, which fell 3-0 to Barnstable, but the Sharks turned things around on Monday when they defeated Falmouth Academy 5-0 as they continue striving for a spot in the post-season.

Though the Sharks played a strong game on Oct. 19 in the first of a trifecta of homecoming games that day, the Red Raiders prevailed courtesy of a hat trick from Livi Varetimos, with each goal coming off a pass from teammate Kate Brewster.

Varetimos scored two of her goals in the first half of the Saturday morning game, but Monomoy stepped up its defense in the second half, dominating the ball and controlling much of possession. While they weren't able to score, they prevailed in holding the Raiders at bay until the last five minutes of the game when Varetimos snuck in one last shot.

Though the Sharks had several solid chances at the net, they just couldn't get past Barnstable goalkeepers Reed Kjoller and Morgan Dardia.

“Overall, especially in the second half we dominated possession and had the better play, and just couldn't get anything on net,” said Monomoy head coach Jenn Peterson. “I thought we played well. We got the ball outside and were working hard defensively.”

Peterson said she felt Lexi Hyora, Leah Nash, Hanna Slater, and Alyssa Lyons were stalwart in their efforts, while Lucy Mawn stepped up nicely, as did Grace Ventura.

The Sharks fared much better on Monday afternoon when they hosted Falmouth Academy, this time coming away with a 5-0 win.

Mawn kicked off the scoring in the first half to give Monomoy a 1-0 halftime lead, with her goal coming roughly 30 minutes in, but it was once again during the second half that the Sharks came alive, with four goals added to their tally, two from Kelsey Olson and two from Kenyatta Pigo-Cronin to give the Sharks a nice boost.

Monomoy also saw strong play from Kate Gabri, Kaitlyn Lyons, and Alyssa Lyons, each of whom had assists, while goalkeeper Josie Ganshaw helped ensure the shutout.

Next up for the Sharks is an away game against St. John Paul II this afternoon (Oct. 24) at 4 p.m., with Monomoy returning home for Senior Night against D-Y tomorrow at 6 p.m. Their final game of the regular season will take place Oct. 30 against Nauset with a 6 p.m. start.