EASTHAM — Nauset High soccer has something of a reputation. The boys varsity won all 23 games in 2016, then did it again in 2018, when they finished third in the nation. In the volatile world of high school soccer, where each year about a third of the team leaves after graduating, Nauset is impressively consistent.
For Martha’s Vineyard boys varsity coach John Walsh, Nauset is more than just a tough opponent. “This is the benchmark,” he told his team before their match at Nauset High last Thursday, Oct. 3. It was a tight game at first, with Martha’s Vineyard scoring less than 10 minutes in. But five minutes later, freshman Sawyer Harold scored on a pass from junior Kauan Gon, and MV’s jibes of “They don’t want it!” gave way to a solemn realization that Nauset had the upper hand. The Warriors won the game 2-1.
“They didn’t get a sniff at the end,” Nauset coach John McCully said, thanks to his team’s ability to dominate control of the ball. McCully calls it a “possession-oriented” style of play — it’s something the team has been working on for the six weeks they’ve practiced together. And aside from a single loss against the defending state champions at Norwell High School on Monday, it’s been working very well.
The boys’ overall record is 8-1-2 as of the Independent’s deadline on Oct. 8, which puts them comfortably ahead of league rivals Barnstable (4-4-1), Falmouth (3-3-4), and Martha’s Vineyard (1-5-1).
With their victory over MV, the boys varsity reached one of their goals: qualifying for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s soccer tournament later this fall. To qualify, teams need to win or tie at least half of their scheduled games in a season. Dates and brackets for the tournament have not yet been announced.
But McCully wasn’t about to let his players relax. “It was a sloppy game on our part,” he said of Thursday’s match. “It was the fifth one in a row we’d won by a single point.”
McCully said the team is still adjusting to the loss of midfielders Charlie Cushing, Marco Salmon Anthony, and Devin Farrell, who graduated last year. “I’ve got five guys in the middle of the field that we’re kind of rotating. Until they find their niches,” he said, “we’ll continue to have close games.”
One up-and-coming forward is Sawyer Harold. McCully called him “the present pleasant surprise.” Harold practiced with the varsity as an 8th-grader during last season, when he was at Nauset Middle School. Eighth-graders aren’t allowed to play varsity, but they’ve been allowed to train with the team for the past three years, McCully said.
Another one to watch this year, according to McCully, is midfielder Omari Perry, a junior who joined the team as a freshman in 2022. He’s the team’s top scorer this season with 12 goals and 6 assists as of Oct. 8 — that’s 90 percent of the team’s 20 total points. “He’s just dynamite out there,” McCully said with a grin.
The girls varsity, meanwhile, needs to win or tie two of their remaining eight games to qualify for the postseason. Their record so far this season is 6-2-2, putting them at the top of the league, ahead of Barnstable (1-9), Falmouth (6-4-1), and the Vineyard (5-3).
Like the boys, the Nauset girls need to work hard to fill the gaps left by last year’s seniors. Six of the team’s all-stars, as voted by the league’s coaches, have graduated: midfielders Olivia Avellar, Samatha McIsaac, and Georgiana Orlandella, and defenders Caroline Kennard, Tess Williams, and Mackenzie Still.
But there’s plenty of new blood on the team. The one-two punch of freshman starters Nina Swaby and Peyton Hill creates what coach Evan Botting described as “a defender’s worst nightmare.” Both Swaby and Hill played on Nauset’s junior varsity last season as 8th-graders, and both were crowned players of the year by their teammates, Swaby for offense, Hill for defense.
There are returning stars, too, including Violet Roche, a junior who Botting said is “the best defender on Cape Cod.” Roche’s talents extend beyond soccer: she’s been the Cape league track MVP every year since she started high school in 2022. Naturally her speed contributes to her soccer game. “I don’t know that anyone has beaten Violet on the dribble this season,” Botting said.
The big game for the girls varsity is on Friday, Oct. 11 when they’ll face Sandwich High School, the only team they’ve lost to so far this season. “We were still finding our stride,” Botting said of the loss. “We’re a lot better now than we were back then.”
The regular season will end for both varsity teams on Tuesday, Oct. 29. They’ll be playing against Falmouth.
