Nauset Girls Lacrosse Drawing Upon Team Effort To Begin Season

NORTH EASTHAM – If there’s one common thread among the Nauset girls lacrosse team as the group kicks off the 2026 season, it’s their confidence.

The Warriors have been mixing up their lineups in the early goings, and while they surely hope to soon flip their 1-2 start back to above .500, they’ve emerged from the first few games of the season knowing that it’s been a team effort so far.

“We were all working hard,” junior Megan Sullivan said Monday after a down-to-the-wire 10-9 loss to Nantucket. “We were very together, and I mean, it was very, very good. I was very proud of my team today.”

Against the Whalers, the Warriors led 3-0 early, but Nantucket responded quickly to knot the score up by the end of the first quarter. The Whalers then grabbed a 5-4 lead that they didn’t relinquish. Nauset clawed back to within one and had a look for the equalizer with under a minute to go but couldn’t find the back of the net.

For the Warriors, senior Julia Kipperman had six goals and Sullivan added three in the defeat. Kipperman will continue to be the straw that stirs the drink for Nauset as one of the region’s best players. She took 14 shots against Nantucket. The rest of the team took seven shots combined.

A reigning Cape and Islands League MVP, Kipperman has the ability to win the ball at midfield and speed down past defenders for instant scores. When the offense is settled, she can grab a pass and zig-zag through multiple players to find a powerful shot.

“We definitely count on her to win the draw, as she did today,” head coach Heather Stevens said after facing Nantucket.

Nauset opened the season with a 19-2 romp against Sturgis East on March 26. Then last Saturday, they hosted Moses Brown — arguably Rhode Island’s best high school girls lacrosse team. The Warriors fell 16-3 to the Quakers, the reigning state champions of Rhode Island’s Division 1.

In facing such a top squad, the Warriors learned they “need to stick together as a team,” Sullivan said.

“We're going to work hard,” Sullivan said. “We're going to put our best foot forward, and definitely Saturday was one of our best games teamwise. We worked so hard as a team.”

The Warriors are coming off an 11-6 record last season that culminated in a hard-earned mid-bracket Division 3 state tournament win against Archbishop Williams. The 2025 season was the second year in a row the Warriors picked up a victory in the state tournament. Nauset ultimately fell in the second round to top-seeded Medfield, the division’s eventual champions. 

Last season’s group had nine seniors, so different players will have to step into new roles in 2026. The team in 2026 has “four very talented freshmen,” Stevens said: Zoey Bassett, Sofia Callahan, Reese Ferguson and Chloe Violet.

“It's different because a lot of girls are trying new spots out, and they're trying everything new,” Sullivan said. “And I think we're all working together, helping each other out.”

Following the loss to Nantucket, Stevens was unhappy with the number of turnovers surrendered by the Warriors. But she also saw and felt increased confidence on a player and team level. She said she saw Kipperman being more confident in who she was passing to (often a freshman) and in utilizing the rest of the offense. All the same, Kipperman, Stevens said, knows when it’s time to take it herself, as she is completely capable of doing.

“I'm more confident with the offense, and it seems they're more confident with each other, so just them utilizing each other and knowing that they're there for each other,” Stevens said.