BOSTON — The Nauset Regional High School boys hockey team completed a year-long quest for its first-ever state title by scoring four unanswered goals in the final period to defeat Medfield 4-1 in the Division 3 championship on Sunday at TD Garden. The victory came almost a year to the day after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Marblehead in the 2024 finals.
Nauset Hockey
WARRIORS WATCH: HOCKEY
Undefeated Boys Get Revved Up for Playoff Run
Playing well for spectators is ‘the best feeling in the world,’ says forward Eldredge
ORLEANS — The Charles Moore Arena is always packed when Nauset plays, and Wednesday, Feb. 5 was no exception. The fans who arrived early enough to find seats drummed on the walls whenever the Warriors scored and erupted in a chorus of boos when their opponents did the same.
The enthusiasm is deserved: the boys hockey team is undefeated this season, with 15 wins and 1 tie as of Tuesday, Feb. 11. That places them at the top of the MIAA Division 3 rankings and on track to land the number-1 seed in the postseason tournament for the second year in a row. After suffering a 1-0 loss to Marblehead in last year’s State Championship, the Warriors hit the ground running in a shot at redemption.
Nauset bested Martha’s Vineyard (8-7-2) 7-1 on Feb. 5, marking its second win of the season against the Division 4 team. The previous win, 3-0 on Jan. 16, was one of seven games so far this season in which the Warriors didn’t allow a single goal by their opponents. The others were against Triton, Sandwich, Weymouth, Hopkinton, Norwell, and last Saturday in an away contest at Malden Catholic.
Wednesday’s win was also the ninth in a now 10-game winning streak since the team’s 2-2 tie against Milton (7-3-7) on Jan. 8. The team played aggressively, never letting up the pressure on Martha’s Vineyard even as the Warriors pulled too far ahead for their opponents to have a realistic shot at a comeback. By the third period, a few rude Nauset fans in the stands were shouting that the Vineyarders should just give up because they might miss their boat home.
But Martha’s Vineyard didn’t give up. Goalie Henry Wansiewicz stood firm until the end as the Warriors launched an all-out assault made more dizzying by a series of fake-out passes. Meanwhile, Nauset’s goalie, senior Zach Coelho, crouched comfortably on his side of the rink, easily corralling the rare shot that made its way to him before returning it to his relentless forwards.
Three of the Warriors’ seven goals on Feb. 5 were scored by team captain and center forward Logan Poulin, a senior who has played with the Warriors since the 2022-23 season. That accounts for a tenth of the 30 goals he’s scored this season, with 17 additional points for assists, making Poulin the Warriors’ top scorer. Alternate captain Colin Ward has scored 14 goals and 7 assists so far this season.
“It feels awesome,” Poulin said of his team’s performance. “I’m not a big stats guy looking at records, but it’s definitely good keeping that undefeated record — something we want to keep going.”
Poulin said he likes to take things one game at a time and one practice at a time, relying on his coach, Connor Brickley, to give the team the guidance they need to succeed.
“He doesn’t overlook any member of the team,” Poulin said. “and that’s what keeps us strong.”
Brickley started coaching Nauset’s boys hockey team during the 2022-23 season, the same year Poulin joined. Before that, he coached the girls. That year, Brickley said, he started a push to “change the culture” around high school hockey on Cape Cod — taking advantage of a powerful team to build the enthusiastic community present at Warriors games this year.
“The community down here is great,” Brickley said. “They love hockey, so we put on a pretty good show.”
Brickley said word of mouth is the Warriors’ best advertisement. As the team saw more success last season, the number of spectators began to snowball, with fans posting on social media and inviting their friends to come to games.
And the team is clearly exceptional. “We have a strong nucleus of kids that are willing to work really hard to go after the state tournament again,” said Brickley.
Poulin stands at the center of that nucleus. He “leads on the ice,” said the coach, setting the pace of the game for everyone else: he moves fast and chases the puck relentlessly, rarely letting his opponents get out of their defensive zone. When they do, Brickley said, the Warriors just attack again.
Poulin is humble about his ability and credits his wingmen, junior Jacob Eldredge on his right and sophomore Samuel Mayhew on the left. The three are a nearly unstoppable force on the ice, with Eldredge in particular staying open for breakout passes to control the puck in the offensive zone.
“We want to score as many goals as we can,” Eldredge said. “We want to keep dominating.”
That hunger to score, Eldredge added, is what drove him to become a forward. When he started playing hockey at age five with friends from his kindergarten class, he was the goalie, but as he grew he wanted to be up front and ended up as the Warriors’ right wing when he joined the team in 2022. He says that hearing the crowd cheer when he scores a goal is “the best feeling in the world.”
Those cheers have only grown louder since Eldredge joined the team. “It’s the culture we’ve built,” he said.
With the postseason fast approaching, Eldredge said the Warriors’ biggest rivals are the Scituate Sailors (13-3-2). Nauset won both times the teams faced off this year, but Scituate put up a tougher fight than any other opponent, with the Warriors winning 5-4 on Dec. 26 and 2-1 on Feb. 1. Those close matches stand out in a season otherwise marked by lopsided victories — the only other time Nauset won by a margin of less than 3 points was a 4-2 victory against Falmouth (7-10-1) on Jan. 29.
The Sailors are currently ranked fourth in the division, just below Marblehead (15-2-1) in third place and Medfield (17-0-1) in second. All three teams made it to the quarterfinals last year.
Nauset will play its last game of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 19 against 35th-ranked Pembroke (5-10-2). The top 32 teams in Division 3 will qualify for postseason, with the highest seeds playing the lowest-ranked teams in each round.
Preparations for the upcoming matches, Poulin said, won’t look any different than usual. “We’ll put our heads down and work as hard as we can,” he said. “We’re going to get the job done, regardless of where we’re playing.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Warriors Fall 1-0 in State Hockey Finals
The Nauset boys are upset by Marblehead at TD Garden
BOSTON — History will have to wait.
The Nauset Regional High School boys hockey team lost to Marblehead at TD Garden on Sunday in the Division 3 finals, ending the Warriors’ run at the hockey program’s first state title.
Marblehead sophomore Avin Rodovsky scored the game’s only goal at 4:41 of the first period, while junior goalie Leo Burdge did everything asked of him in a 37-save shutout performance for the Magicians.
It was the first time this season that Nauset failed to score. The Warriors were last shut out on Jan. 19, 2022. It also marked the team’s first loss since Dec. 13. Nauset was the top-ranked team in the division.
“It’s a tough one — there’s just so many different ways that you can lose a hockey game,” said Nauset Head Coach Connor Brickley, who fidgeted with his runners-up medal in silence in a room adjacent to the locker room before addressing the team. “I feel for the guys because they put a heck of an effort in this whole season, and they definitely deserve better. But there’s always going to be a winner and a loser, and it just didn’t go our way.”
Despite a tentative first period on the biggest stage in Massachusetts high school hockey, Nauset played the way it wanted to. The Warriors’ defense was strong in front of junior goalie Zach Coelho, who backstopped the team through the playoffs. He made 13 saves on Sunday, including on a partial breakaway by Rodovsky minutes before the decisive goal.
Coelho, who lives in Truro, was beaten only on a cross-crease pass from junior Kyle Hart that set up Rodovsky for the goal. He conceded just three goals in five playoff games, posting two shutouts.
“We started to settle down midway through the first period, and in the second and third periods, that was our team,” said Brickley. “I can’t fault them. That was Nauset’s brand of hockey, and this game is even tougher to swallow because you’re happy with the work they did on the ice.”
The Warriors never got the bounce they needed to spark one of the most potent offenses in the division, one that had outscored opponents 121-25 heading into Sunday. Nauset’s shots hit the post five times and the crossbar twice. They had their opportunities on a trio of power plays and nearly scored while on a penalty kill in the closing stages.
Even with the clock ticking down, it felt as if Nauset would find the back of the net to rescue its season and force overtime. Two goalmouth scrambles ensued with Burdge defending, but the Warriors came up empty-handed. With each chance the crowd’s volume swelled before a deflated “Oh!”
The loss hurts, but the Warriors knew they belonged at the Garden. They proved it all season. It’s a long way from where the seniors began their careers, with three wins as freshmen. The team has been built into a contender by Brickley, his brother Brendan, and Al Cutts, and they held the top spot in the MIAA power rankings from Jan. 1 on. Their performance made others take notice, and they peaked at no. 19 in the Boston Globe’s top 20 boys’ hockey rankings, which rarely includes teams outside Division 1.
Junior Logan Poulin of Truro made the team’s objective clear at the start of the season. “Going to the Garden — it’s that simple,” he had said in December. The Warriors were fueled by a heartbreaking 3-2 last-second loss to Watertown in the quarterfinals last March.
Nauset rolled to the Cape & Islands Atlantic Division title with a perfect 6-0 record; they beat last season’s runner-up, Scituate, twice, won 19 straight games, and emphatically marched their way through the playoffs.
Every step of the way, they were supported by the Nauset and Lower Cape community, which made the journey to Boston dressed in their St. Patrick’s Day best. The Warrior family descended on the The Greatest Bar for pregame festivities that were prolonged because the first game of the day went into extended overtime.
“You bring the energy, you bring the passion, you make each night an experience that makes these guys want to show up and play in front of you,” Brickley posted on Instagram hours after the loss. The former NHL player has amassed a 39-8-1 record in two seasons at the helm and created high expectations for the team.
The journey that both the boys and girls Nauset hockey teams went on gained attention for a region often forgotten in the winter. The girls made their own history by reaching their first-ever quarterfinals, beating Sandwich to get there. The Lady Knights were a team the girls’ program had never defeated — but they beat them three times this season.
Next season, Nauset will be propelled by Sunday’s loss, having come so close to achieving every goal they had set.
Poulin said his disappointment would likely linger for a while. The loss, he said, “was a tough pill to swallow — you climb the mountain, get to the top, and get pushed right back off. I have no doubt we’ll be here next year with a different outcome.”
ON ICE
Clenchy Defends Firing of Coach Locke
Hockey parents continue to seek answers that are not forthcoming
EASTHAM — Drew Locke, the former head coach of the Nauset Regional High School boys hockey team, was fired on Feb. 10, but in the seven weeks since, few details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding his dismissal. Some parents continue to seek answers from school authorities, who steadfastly refuse to discuss the matter, and there has been widespread support for Locke, including protests by students.
The school superintendent, Brooke Clenchy, has defended Locke’s dismissal, maintaining that an investigation into the case was “thorough and comprehensive.”
Locke was fired after the parents of one of the team members complained that he had shoved their son in the locker room at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans after a game on Jan. 12. Through his lawyer, Locke has “unequivocally” denied the accusation.
On March 10, the lawyer, Bruce Bierhans, said he received Locke’s personnel file. He told the Independent that it contained details of a two-day investigation conducted by the high school. Bierhans would not give a reporter a copy of the file, but he claimed that there was insufficient evidence in it to justify the firing.
“The allegation seems to be that Coach Locke shoved a student, who fell in the locker room,” Bierhans said. “But there is no independent corroboration of any kind. There is no witness that corroborates what happened, other than maybe the student’s brother.”
The father of the alleged victim, Olivier Naas of Yarmouth Port, has not responded to repeated requests for comment. Naas is a lieutenant in the Mashpee Police Dept.
According to Bierhans, the record of the school’s investigation of the incident includes evidence that Naas threatened to file a criminal complaint against Locke if the school did not fire him.
Nauset School Supt. Brooke Clenchy responded to questions about Naas’s threat, saying that it had nothing to do with the administration’s decision.
“A thorough and comprehensive investigation was conducted,” Clenchy wrote in an email to the Independent.
While refusing to comment further on the case because it involved a personnel matter, Clenchy added, “I can state that in general, any investigation conducted by the Nauset Public Schools is based upon the facts and evidence, and neither our investigation nor our personnel actions would be influenced by a threat of a criminal complaint.”
Parents of students on the team, including Marc Howard of Yarmouth and Dave Roberts of Truro, sent a letter to the school asking for details of its investigation.
“To me, and all of us, it’s been really unacceptable,” said Howard. “If something terrible happened to a kid, which it did not, but if something did [the administration] should have a responsibility to say, ‘We have a problem here and we’re taking care of it.’ These kids have written letters in support of their coach. They were completely ignored.”
Chris Easley of Wellfleet, chair of the Nauset Regional School Committee, told the Independent that “Coach Locke’s relationship with the school is based on a contract. There was a determination at the school level that he had, for some reason, not fulfilled what he was supposed to do, or something occurred which required him to be let go. It is my belief that the guidelines were followed. But if that was not handled properly, then he has a legal remedy to do something.”
A separate investigation of the alleged incident was conducted by the Mass. Dept. of Children and Families, which found a claim of child abuse or neglect made against Locke to be “unsupported.”
Social-media videos posted on Feb. 14 showed about 100 students, including members of both the boys and girls hockey teams, conducting a walkout at the high school in support of Locke.
A change.org petition asking the school to rehire Locke had 1,313 signatures as of Monday, March 28.
The team had just four regular season games left when Locke was fired. It went on to win all four games and then won its first-round match in the state tournament.
“I feel like it did affect us, not having him there, but we knew we were still talented,” said Cooper Guiliano, the team’s senior captain.
WARRIORS WATCH
Nauset Boys Hockey Stays Alive
Double-overtime win keeps the Warriors in the tournament
Update: The boys hockey team lost in the Round of 16 to Lynnfield by a score of 7-1 on Wednesday night.
EASTHAM — The Nauset boys hockey team showed sheer determination on the ice Saturday night in a double-overtime win over North Middlesex in the Round of 32 of the Division III state tournament.
The Warriors struck first as senior Cooper Guiliano put one in the back of the net with about two minutes left in the first period. Despite being up 1-0 early, the team looked slow through the first two periods.
North Middlesex took advantage of a few Nauset mistakes and managed to score two shorthanded goals. The Patriots tied it at 1-1 early in the second period and then, with 7:30 left in the third period, the Warriors left the puck out in front of their own net and the Patriots went up 2-1.
As the clock ticked down it looked like the Warriors, seeded 13th, were going to be upset by the Patriots, seeded 20th. Nauset pulled its goalie in a desperate move. With just 32 seconds left in regulation, sophomore Cam Connery slipped past the defense and scored to tie the game.
After a scoreless first overtime period, Nauset started the second overtime by attacking the net. That paid off as junior Logan Valine controlled the puck up the ice, skated around the last defender, and flicked the puck into the top of the net for the 3-2 victory.
The four seniors on the team, Cam Viprino, Hayden Boucher, Zach Roberts, and Guiliano, spoke about their team’s toughness and close bond during an interview in February.
“The thing about Nauset, we don’t have the most skill, we don’t have the most players showing up for tryouts, but we work harder than any other team out there,” Viprino said. “That sense of family and knowing that everyone has each other’s back really helps us on the ice.”
When this year’s crop of seniors were freshmen, they played a junior varsity tournament title game with just 10 players against a team of 23 in Sandwich. Despite being shorthanded, Nauset’s JV team won that game, and their hard-striving underdog mentality has endured.
“That game built a lot of character,” Boucher said. “It showed us who you want to be as role models to the sophomores and freshmen.”
The Warriors have now skated to a 13-7-1 record with a matchup against 4th-seeded Lynnfield in the Round of 16 that, at press time, was scheduled for Wednesday, March 9 at 5:15 p.m. at McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody.
Girls Hockey, Boys Basketball Defeated
After the boys hockey triumph on Saturday, the Cape Cod Furies skated to a 1-0 loss against Reading in the first round of the Division I girls hockey state tournament. The Furies let Reading score a goal in the first period after a defensive mistake and couldn’t find a way to tie it for the rest of the game.
Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Avellar played a great game in net despite giving up the only goal of the game. Eighth-grader Gaby Basset managed to get the best chances at scoring but came up empty as Reading’s keeper also played well.
The Furies didn’t get their first playoff win in program history, but they’re a young team with a promising future ahead.
The Nauset boys basketball team lost to Malden Catholic Friday night by a score of 85-36. The Lancers are the number-one team in the state’s Division II and the favorites to win the state tournament.
After beating Westwood by two points in the first round, the 33rd-seeded Warriors were looking to stage a huge upset in Malden. But Nauset had no answer for Malden Catholic’s tough defense and the athleticism of 6’7” junior Jahmari Hamilton-Brown.
Brown, who already has an offer to play basketball at Division I Providence College, got it done on both ends of the floor in the first half and led Malden Catholic to a 44-8 lead at halftime.
It was a great season for Nauset, said Coach John McCarthy. The team graduates nine seniors this year. He says he is optimistic about the future because this year’s junior varsity team posted a 12-3 record and the freshmen team went 12-1.
FIRE AND ICE
Nauset Hockey Coach Fired
Locke is sacked midseason; school officials say nothing
Update: Nauset won 11-0 against Blue Hills Regional Technical School at Charles Moore Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 16 to clinch a spot in the postseason.
EASTHAM — Nauset Regional High School boys hockey Head Coach Drew Locke was fired on Thursday, Feb. 10 with just four games left in the regular season. The reason for the popular coach’s termination remains unclear.
Locke’s firing has rocked the community, and a protest petition and walkout at the school have already been organized. Nauset Athletic Director John Mattson and Principal Chris Ellsasser did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Ellsasser told the team on Feb. 10 that Locke would no longer be the coach and that Assistant Hockey Coach Jake Pickard would lead the team for the rest of the season, Pickard told the Independent.
“It doesn’t take away from the integrity and morale that Drew represents,” Pickard said. “The work he put in behind the scenes … I have nothing bad to say about the guy. It’s an unfortunate turn of events.”
But what exactly were those events? It’s not at all clear.
An Allegation Denied
Attorney Bruce Bierhans, who is representing Locke, said, “An allegation has been made that Drew placed his hand on a student, which he unequivocally denies. We are in the process of investigating whether Drew was wrongfully terminated and whether there are unsupported claims against Drew. We are compiling information from witnesses who were at the scene where the alleged incident occurred, and we are investigating what investigation was done by the school.
“Drew is a beloved figure within the Nauset hockey team,” Bierhans added. “I believe it to be an extraordinarily unfortunate situation, and we are going to get to the bottom of it.”
A reporter for the Independent spoke on Feb. 15 with the mother of the student who is the alleged victim in the incident, but she said she was not able to comment by the newspaper’s deadline.
Locke, who lives in Truro, is in his second year as head hockey coach, although he has been involved with the program for several years.
Truro Vineyards co-owner David Roberts, whose son Zach is a senior captain on the team, said the school notified parents about Locke’s termination on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Roberts said his son, two other student athletes, and Pickard met with Ellsasser to discuss the situation on Friday, Feb. 11. Ellsasser reportedly told them that an investigation began on Monday, Feb. 7 and was completed on Wednesday, Feb. 9. The complaint, Roberts said, involved Locke and a student athlete in a locker room incident in mid-January.
Roberts said many team members who were in the locker room at that time recalled nothing unusual.
“If it was something serious, I think they’d remember,” he said. “My questions would be, there were 15 or 18 other people in the room. Why did they only ask three kids? We want the school to be transparent and pursue every single side of the story. If there’s enough other evidence to justify him being released, then that’s understandable, but it seems like they’re ignoring potential witnesses that they have access to.”
More than 30 parents, including Roberts, met at the Charles Moore Arena in Orleans on Friday, Feb. 11 to strategize. The group, calling itself the “Nauset Boys Varsity Hockey Coalition,” drafted a letter to the school administration on Feb. 13 asking for more transparency from the school on its investigation.
“We’re asking them to tell us what the process is for investigating and disciplining a coach,” Roberts said. “If that process was not followed, we ask them to restart the investigation and give Drew a fair hearing.”
One Win From Playoffs
At the beginning of February, the team had a 9-4 record, just one win away from clinching a playoff berth. The Warriors then lost two games in a row and received the news that Locke had been fired. Nauset hosted its Senior Night game against Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, Feb. 12, two days after the firing, and the Warriors again lost, 3-2. Some team members wore shirts before the game that read “#dontscrewwithdrew.”
The team then skated to a 3-3 tie against Monomoy on Sunday, Feb. 13 to bring its record to 9-7-1. With three games left in the regular season, Nauset needed one win to reach the playoffs.
Pickard said it’s been hard for the team to focus on getting that elusive win.
“It’s difficult and emotional,” he said. “It adds adversity to an already difficult situation with the pandemic and everything else going on.”
The Nauset boys hockey team and fellow students staged a walkout at the high school on Monday, Feb. 14, at 11 a.m. Videos of the walkout appeared that night on the @nausethockey Instagram page.
A change.org petition created last weekend by Nauset student Courtney Redihan, titled “Rehire Coach Drew Locke,” had 1,071 signatures as of Feb. 14 and dozens of comments.
“The 2021-2022 season has been a record breaking one for Nauset boys hockey,” the petition reads. “Coach Drew Locke has been a part of the program for eight years and has worked hard day and night for these boys. It is truly heartbreaking to the Nauset players, families, and students to see such a great person and role model have this amazing opportunity taken away. Not only does it affect Coach Drew, but it takes a huge toll on the team for the remainder of this season. We hope that this petition will allow Drew Locke to return to coaching the Nauset boys ice hockey team.”
WARRIORS WATCH
Hockey Teams Drop Two Games to Sandwich
A weekly preview of Nauset High sports
ORLEANS — Sandwich has had Nauset High’s number on the ice this season.
There were just a few minutes remaining in regulation in the Nauset boys ice hockey game against Sandwich on Jan. 26. Warriors junior Dan Deering scored with 6:55 left to make it a 2-2 game that could have been headed for overtime.
But with four minutes left Sandwich put another shot in the net to hand Nauset its fourth loss of the season, 3-2.
It was a tough loss for the Warriors, who had dropped a previous game to Sandwich, 4-3. But the team still had a creditable 8-4 record as of Tuesday, with eight regular season games left.
On the same day, the Cape Cod Furies girls ice hockey team suffered its second loss of the season, 6-1, to Sandwich. The team’s first loss also came against Sandwich earlier in January.
The Nauset boys basketball team improved to 7-2 with a big 54-44 win over Falmouth on Jan. 28. Senior Keleb Daniels Julien scored a team-high 15 points in the win.
The team has strung together some impressive wins this year, including a 54-49 victory over Plymouth North two days before the Falmouth game, and back-to-back wins over Wareham.
Next up for Nauset is its first matchup of the season against Barnstable on Feb. 4. Two previously scheduled games against Barnstable were postponed. After traveling to Barnstable, the Warriors play a rematch against Cape Cod Academy on Feb. 7.
Thursday, Feb. 3
Girls ice hockey: The Furies take on Pembroke High at Hobomock Ice Arena at 5:30 p.m.
Boys and girls swimming: The swim teams travel to Sandwich High for a meet against St. John Paul II at 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 4
Boys and girls swimming: The swim teams compete in the Cape & Islands Diving Championships at Sandwich High beginning Friday and continuing on Saturday, Feb. 5.
Boys basketball: The Warriors travel to Barnstable to play the Red Hawks at 5:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: Barnstable comes to Eastham for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
Boys wrestling: The Warriors compete in the Cape & Islands Championship Meet at 6 p.m. at Sandwich High School.
Saturday, Feb. 5
Girls ice hockey: The Nantucket Whalers travel to the Cape to play the Furies at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans at 2 p.m.
Boys ice hockey: The Warriors host Nantucket at Charles Moore Arena at 4 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 6
Boys and girls indoor track: The Nauset track teams compete in the Cape & Islands League Championship meet at Reggie Lewis Center beginning at 11 a.m.
Monday, Feb. 7
Girls ice hockey: The Falmouth Clippers travel to Orleans to play the Furies at Charles Moore Arena. Time TBD.
Boys basketball: Cape Cod Academy hosts Nauset in a big rematch beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Warriors lost a close one to the Seahawks on Jan. 10, 65-61.
Tuesday, Feb. 8
Girls basketball: The Warriors host the Sandwich Blue Knights at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 9
Girls ice hockey: Martha’s Vineyard hosts the Furies on the island at 4:20 p.m.
Boys ice hockey: The Warriors play the Falmouth Clippers at Falmouth Ice Arena at 7 p.m.
Boys basketball: The Sandwich Blue Knights host the Nauset Warriors at 7 p.m.
HOCKEY, BASKETBALL
Hussey Leads Warriors to Senior Night Win
Girls remain undefeated on the court
EASTHAM — Drew Locke secured his first victory as head coach of Nauset Regional High School boys hockey when the team beat Barnstable 4-3 at the Charles Moore Arena on Feb. 3.
It was senior night for the Warriors, as upperclassmen Clayton Hussey, Collin Underhill, and Ethan Keeney were honored before the game. Hussey got off to a good start, scoring a goal to tie the game 1-1 late in the second period, then teammate Dan Deering scored shortly after to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Nauset was up 3-2 in the third period when Hussey scored his second goal of the game to make it 4-2. The Warriors let one more goal get past them but held on for the win over a good Barnstable team.
The boys hockey team followed this performance with another win over a joint Mashpee-Monomoy team on Feb. 6. The final score was 4-1. The Warriors were led by freshman Julian Krivos, who scored two goals. The team is now 2-4-1 on the season.
Meanwhile, the Furies girls hockey team had five games in a row postponed from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6 due to weather conditions and Covid-19 protocols.
Boys basketball stands at 4-3 after an impressive 58-42 win over Dennis-Yarmouth, a four-point loss to Falmouth, and a 50-41 loss on Monday to undefeated Sandwich. Girls basketball continues to roll with a 7-0 record, led by senior Avery Burns, who is putting up big numbers.
Burns is averaging 25.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists per game. The team’s last scheduled game against Falmouth on Feb. 3 was postponed.
PLAYING IN A PANDEMIC
Nauset Winter Sports Teams Eager to Compete
Some games are already postponed in an uncertain season
EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School boys ice hockey team lost its first game of the season to the Nantucket Whalers 3-0 on Saturday, Jan. 2. Though it was not an ideal start, everyone was thankful to be on the ice.
Only the Nauset boys and girls hockey, boys and girls basketball, and boys and girls swimming and diving teams are competing this winter. The teams have been able to practice together, under MIAA guidelines, since Dec. 14.
But the Cape and Islands League schedule is a bit of a carousel. At press time, the only Nauset games that were still on through Jan. 12 were against Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and St. John Paul II High School. The other schools in the league, Monomoy, Dennis-Yarmouth, Barnstable, Falmouth, and Sandwich have paused practices and games until Jan. 11 or 12 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“I knew my first year was going to be challenging, but I didn’t expect this,” said Drew Locke, the new varsity head coach of the boys hockey team.
Nonetheless, Nauset coaches and players are proud that their school is one of the few still able to compete. “I think it goes to show how careful we are off the court,” said Avery Burns, senior captain of the girls basketball team. “Everyone has to adapt and get used to it.”
Both Burns and Clayton Hussey, senior captain of the boys hockey team, said that players and coaches are holding each other accountable when it comes to following guidelines both in and outside of school. “We really crack down because we really want to play,” Hussey said.
Locke said that is evident: “You can see it in their eyes.”
Though Locke has been with the Nauset hockey program for the last five years, he was named head coach in April just after Covid-19 became a harsh reality on the Cape. He began organizing nonmandatory outdoor conditioning workouts in the summer so that players could stay in shape. He has also developed his own protocol for how players and coaches enter, exit, and interact during practice at Charles Moore Arena. Players must get dressed outside, or in their cars, and have a socially distant meeting outside the rink before entering. It’s not ideal, but the team has bought in.
“I told them, ‘No matter your opinions, check them at the door, because this is the protocol and this is what we have to do to be together,’ ” said Locke. “It’s amazing how much they’ve had to grow up.”
The team posted an underwhelming 1-13-2 regular season record last year. This year the Warriors are still looking to compete, but they also want the program to grow under a new head coach.
“The expectation for all of us is to grow as a team,” said Ethan Keeney, a senior captain. “We’ve been spending more time together since last year. We have a good group here.”
“We want to learn from this whole experience and to mature and understand that life isn’t always guaranteed, but how you deal with challenges as an individual and a group matters,” Locke said. “Your intent really matters, and I want these kids to know we’re going out to win games.”
John Piemontese, head coach of the girls basketball team, also encouraged his players to stay in shape over the summer.
“Like anybody who has to remote teach and work, we had group texts going and trying to look out for each other,” he said. “I told them, ‘If you’re doing something in conditioning or ball handling, then tell your teammates.’ Players were meeting up in driveways or the Eastham basketball courts behind town hall. Our goal was to get prepared regardless of what happens.”
When the girls showed up to their first team practice on Dec. 14, they were in pretty good shape. “I was pleased by the way they took it upon themselves to get ready for the season,” Piemontese said.
Last year, the Nauset girls reached the Division 2 South sectional quarterfinals after going 15-7 in the regular season. They have high hopes for this year.
“We want to win every game,” Piemontese said. “If there’s a postseason tourney, our goal is to win that, too.”
“We’re definitely hoping to win the league,” Burns added. “With the group of girls we have, I think we can make that happen.”
Burns is one of four seniors who have been playing together since fifth grade.
“This season is really important because I’ve trained since the end of last year,” she said. “To showcase all that training is really important for me, and I just love to play with this team.”
Hockey and basketball players are required to wear masks at all times during games and practices and will have to follow some new MIAA rules, like maintaining distance during substitutions or other pauses in the game. But, for the most part, game play will be relatively unaffected.
“We’ve gotten used to the masks,” Burns said. “We had our first interschool scrimmage yesterday, and I think it went real well. [The new rules] didn’t really take away from the game itself, like we thought.”
The girls basketball team’s first scheduled game is at home against the Nantucket Whalers on Friday, Jan. 8 at 4 p.m.
Nauset’s winter sports policy allows two guests per Nauset player to attend home games. Each guest must present a game pass at entrance. No visiting fans, students, or others are allowed at Nauset home games. Nauset fans, students, or others cannot attend away games.
Warriors Watch
Thursday, Jan. 7
Boys basketball: The Warriors host their first game of the season against the Nantucket Whalers at 4 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 8
Girls and boys swimming: The Warriors will host their first meet of the season at 4 p.m. against St. John Paul II High School. The meet will be held at Willy’s Gym.
Girls basketball: The Warriors host their first game of the season against the Nantucket Whalers at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 12
Boys basketball: The Warriors will again play host to the Nantucket Whalers at 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 13
Girls basketball: The Whalers will travel to Eastham to play the Warriors again at 4 p.m.
Boys ice hockey: The Warriors are scheduled to play the Barnstable Red Raiders at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center at 6 p.m.
