Adian Brown's goal lifted Nauset boys soccer to a win over Falmouth

NORTH EASTHAM — As far as regular season finales go, there was still a lot to play for between Division 3's No. 32 Nauset and the 28th-ranked Falmouth boys soccer teams on Tuesday.

The Warriors looked to shake a run of seven games without a win (six losses, one draw), which coincided with them plummeting in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Div. 3 rankings.

“I don’t want to use the word hemorrhaging, but we were just uncharacteristically not ourselves,” Nauset coach John McCully said. “We started really well where we had all these clean sheets early and scoring enough to win, and then we weren’t getting those clean sheets, and we weren’t scoring either.”

In the other dugout, the Clippers had overhauled their opponent in the same rankings after going unbeaten in their last four outings. It was a stretch that included a trio of quality wins.

Falmouth also wanted to give one last good account of themselves against a high-caliber opponent like the Warriors before the playoffs start.

“We’ve dug in and played well this season,” Clippers coach Dave Plourde said. “There’s been some ties where we thought we should’ve won, but they’re playing hard.”

The two used Tuesday’s matchup—where second place in the Cape and Islands Atlantic Division was up for grabs—as a final dress rehearsal ahead of the state tournament.

It showed.

The frenetic pace saw both sides leave everything out on the field. Players got stuck into challenges, shots had extra venom, and everything was contested like their season was on the line.

“We went after them,” McCully said. “Bottom line, we hadn’t scored in three games. We knew we needed that goal, and the only way we were going to get that was to pressure them.”

At the full-time whistle, the Clippers' players were sprawled on their backs sucking the cold air into their lungs, while the Warriors celebrated with what felt like a huge sigh of relief.

“It was maximum effort,” Plourde said. “This was like a playoff game and this is the level we need to be at to be playing late into November.”

For the first time all season, the Warriors are healthy.

“Yeah, right now, this is the healthiest we’ve been,” McCully said. “So, knock on wood.”

The biggest loss was Adian Brown, the team’s sparkplug in front of goal, for nearly seven weeks.

He was off and running with two goals in the season opener against Sturgis West, but he then tore his meniscus in the same game. He was sidelined until Oct. 17 against Barnstable.

“(When I first got injured) I thought, I’ll be back next game, but when I heard the news that I wouldn’t, it was tough,” Brown said. “Watching the team play and the sacrifices they made, got me through it.”

Brown’s absence was felt, as goals were hard to come by.

The Warriors scored 15 times in the 10 games he missed, but they only hit the back of the net more than once in four games.

“We had to work hard for our goals,” Warriors captain Austin Remmey said. “But it’s nice having someone up front that you can rely on to score.”

Brown popped up for the difference maker against Falmouth in a pivotal result for Nauset. It was the lone goal between the two teams across 160 minutes after they played out a goalless draw eight days ago.

It was also Brown’s first goal since his return to the lineup. He had been battling his own fitness, as well as playing against defenses that had a full season under their belts.

The first thought that went through his mind as his header hit the net and he wheeled away in celebration was, “I did it, I’m back.”

“I’m getting back to the way I used to play,” Brown said. “That’s given me a lot of confidence and that helped me score tonight.”

The Warriors still represent the standard Cape and Islands opponents aspire to reach.

“They are a barometer for us,” Plourde said. “They’re a successful program and they do things the right way, and their culture is established.”

The Clippers are used to trying to keep it respectable when they play the Warriors, but they went toe to toe on Tuesday.

That shift has been the result of a steady buy in on the players’ part. Plourde likened it to being receptive of a diet.

“Everyone is skeptical at first,” he said.

Little by little, the Clippers have started to build good habits that will turn an idea into an identity.

What stands out is the fight and resiliency the Clippers have shown. They missed out on the postseason last year after failing to get enough results across the line.

That wasn’t going to happen this year.

“There’s a lot more cohesiveness in the team,” Falmouth’s Theo Allenby said. “Last year, we had the right players in the right positions, but then as a team, we didn’t mesh. We’re stronger as a team.”

The Clippers are trending upward. They have the players who want to challenge for the ball on the floor, or in the air, and those small changes have already made a difference

To continue that, it’s players like Allenby setting the example.

“Hard work is the most important thing you can do,” he said. “We’re headed in the right direction.”

Allen Gunn covers high school sports for the Cape Cod Times. You can contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @allentgunn.

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