Westport sports round-up
Eighth grader smashes record for goals and points
Girl's soccer, boy's soccer, field hockey and volleyball make tournament play
Story and photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Posted 10/30/24
Eight grade forward Lily Veracka broke the Westport High School record for goals and points in her first two seasons of play for the girls soccer team.
The slight, but ferocious …
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Westport sports round-up
Eighth grader smashes record for goals and points
Girl's soccer, boy's soccer, field hockey and volleyball make tournament play
Lily Veracka kicks the ball through a defender's legs, into the goal to give Westport a 1-0 lead in the first half. The eighth grader broke the school record for goals and points this season.
Photos by Rich Dionne
Sohia Nickelson boots chips the ball into the box.
Ella Camara attempts to kick the ball into the goal.
After deking Southeastern goalkeeper Paige Crocket (left) Eight grade forward Lily Veracka kicks the ball through a defender's legs, into the goal t give Westport a 1-0 lead in the first half.
Ella Camara high fives Lily Veracka after she scored to give Westport a 1-0 lead in the first half.
Sophia Nickelson attempts a wheel-kick during the game.
Sophia Nickelson (left) heads a mammoth throw-in by teammate Julie George by the Southeastern goalkeeper and into the goal, to give Westport a 3-0 lead in the second half.
Senior captain Colleen Smith is announced to the crowd before the game.
Director Chris Nunes and the Westport Pep Band play the national anthem before the game.
Goalkeeper Bri Soares (left) and teammates salute the flag during the playing of the national anthem.
Kylie Decambra falls to the ground after colliding with the New Bedford goalkeeper during a Westport scoring bid.
Maddie Melnyk (left) and teammates celebrate with Kylie Decambra after she scored in the first quarter of the Wildcats' senior game on Thursday afternoon.
Posted
Eight grade forward Lily Veracka broke the Westport High School record for goals and points in her first two seasons of play for the girls soccer team.
The slight, but ferocious Veracka curently has 23 goals for the season, beating her seveth grade total of 22, which was also a school record. She has also accumulated 102 points during the two seasons.
“Lily has a sense for the net,” said head coach Gary Muello. “She doesn’t have to be looking at it. She just knows where it is and can finish."
The eigth grader scored two goals as the Wildcats tied Diman 2-2 to end the regular season with a record of 12-2-3.
Veracka scored 2 more goals in the Wildcats 3-0 win over Southeastern in a non-league home game on Wednesday afternoon. Sophia Nickelson also scored for the Wildcats, who will host a home game in the D-5 state tournament next week.
She scored two terrific goals against Southeastern. For her first goal, she deked her way around goalkeeper Paige Crocket and buried the shot through a defender’s legs to break a scoreless tie with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Veracka gave the Wildcats breathing room by fielding a Julia George throw-in, down the right sideline, just outside the box. She sped by a defender, timed the bounce and chipped it over Crocket’s head into the left corner of the goal to give Westport a 2-0 lead with 10:40 to play.
Westport goalkeeper Morgan Pacheco made 12 saves during the game. Most of the saves came during a 15-minute stretch during which Southeastern played in attack mode while attempting to tie the score before Veracka's second goal early in the second half.
Nickelson, also an eighth grade forward, made it 3-0 by heading a long throw-in by George into the back of the goal.
Wildcats look forward to hosting tournament game
Coach Muello and the Wildcats are looking forward to hosting a game in the Division 5 playoffs. The win over Southeastern boosted their power ranking from 18th to 16th with one game remaining before playoffs start in November.
“We’re very excited,” said co-captain Tess Silvia. “If we keep up the intensity and keep playing like we’ve been playing, we can go pretty far.”
“We’ll try to keep ourselves healthy and stay on top of what we do well,” said Coach Muello. “Our tactics will change game to game, depending on who we play.”
Westport soccer edges Somerset-Berkley 1-0
Nyzaiah Pacheco scored from a pass by Max Gallant as the boys soccer team beat Somerset-Berkley 1-0 in a non-league home game on Saturday morning. The win boosts the Wildcats’ record to 11-3-2 with two games remaining before playoffs begin in November. Senior captain Noah Amaral made seven saves for his sixth shutout of the season. He and his teammates haven’t let up a goal since falling to Atlantis Charter 5-4 in a league away game on Oct. 8th. Since, he and the Wildcats have won five straight, taking out that loss on Avon, crushing them 8-0. Then Holbrook 3-0, Bishop Stang 5-0, East Bridgewater 4-0 and Somerset-Berkley 1-0. The Wildcats also have moved up in the power rankings, currently ranked 10th and will assuredly host a home game in the Division 5 state tournament.
Decamra scores as field hockey ties New Bedford 1-1
Kylie Decambra scored as the field hockey team tied New Bedford 1-1 in during their senior game on Thursday afternoon. Decambra scored on a pass by Maddie Melnyk in the first quarter. Goalkeeper Bri Soares, playing in her first game since coming back from injury, made two saves during the game.
The Wildcats fell to West Bridgewater 2-0 on Saturday. Soares stood on her head and made 17 saves during the game.
“Bri came up with some excellent stops,” said head coach Susie Fontaine.
With their season finished, the 10-5-3 Wildcats, ranked 26th, now wait to see who they’ll face in the state tournament.
Volleyball team falls in power rankings
The volley ball team loss their last four matches to fall to 18th in the power rankings. They also await their fate to see who they’ll play in the state tournament.
