Lower Cape Teams Begin Postseason Tournaments

HARWICH – The last time the Monomoy boys soccer team scored more than four goals in a match, it was still summer and the games didn’t count yet.

But over two months after that scrimmage seven-goal win in August against Plymouth South, the Sharks opened the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament Monday with a 6-1 explosion against Springfield International. No doubt, that one counted.

Early on there was certainly no guarantee that the Sharks would be hosting and winning a tournament match. In fact, they started on the outside looking in at the playoff field when the fall season’s first set of power rankings were released at the end of September.

At that point, the Sharks were 2-4-1 and slotted in four spots out of the postseason. A lot changed. Monomoy finished the regular season 7-6-5, good for the tournament’s No. 22 seed and a home game against No. 43 Springfield International that they controlled from the first minute to the 80th.

“I think it was just the build up, really, to the game [that] prepared us mentally a lot, all throughout the season,” junior Ben Hager said after the match. “The first bit of the season was a bit of a struggle for us, and then we started to turn up (in the) second half, and I think that really motivated us for the playoffs, so we came into the game ready and excited to play.”

Junior Tate Laramee started the scoring for Monomoy eight minutes into the game off an assist by Hager, who followed that up with a score of his own, his second of the season. Pressure by Laramee forced Springfield International junior goalkeeper Xavier Davis to dribble up the field and make a hurried kick that was intercepted by Hager. From at least 40 yards out, Hager proceeded to pop the ball back into the empty net.

Monomoy led 4-0 at the end of the first half after junior Alex Connell and sophomore Chris Shea scored. In the second half, senior Sunder Elisme scored and Laramee added another. Laramee and Hager each had two assists, and junior Isaac Vieira had one. The Sharks next played at No. 11 Monument Mountain (6-6-6) on Wednesday in the second round, after The Chronicle’s deadline.

“We have a chance to make a run,” head coach Keith Clark said. “I think we had probably one of the hardest schedules of anyone, so we're ready to compete.”

Tournament Play Begins

In other tournament action, the Nauset field hockey team took the ferry to Nantucket and came through with a 2-1 upset win in the first round of the Div. 3 bracket Sunday.

Freshman Reese Ferguson and sophomore Maeve Kennally scored for the No. 20 Warriors against the No. 13 Whalers. Senior Chloe Hand had an assist. The win was the program’s first state tournament victory since at least before 2006. They next played at No. 4 Medfield on Wednesday.

Last Thursday, the No. 38 Warriors (11-8) volleyball team fell 3-1 (27-25, 25-11, 26-28, 25-20) to No. 27 Medway (8-10). The postseason berth was the first for Nauset since 2012 and the second ever in the program’s history.

The No. 16 Cape Cod Tech boys soccer team hosted a first-round match Tuesday, after deadline, in the Div. 5 state tournament against No. 17 Community Academy of Science and Health (8-5-1). The Crusaders (9-6-2) earned a postseason bid for the second year in a row and the fifth time since 2019.