Mounties dominate Prout
Mount defense remains strong in big road win
SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Teams that hover around .500 in the standings tend to show the ability to compete at a high level, but are held back from winning more games by their inability to play their best in a consistent fashion. The Mount St. Charles boys soccer showed off two sides of play in a 6-7-2 2016 campaign, and again looked like two different teams in a 3-0 win over Prout on Monday afternoon.
In a scoreless first half, Mount dominated possession but had legitimate scoring chances break down at the last minute on multiple occasions. The second half proved to be a major breakthrough, with Mount scoring three times and hitting the crossbar on two other shots.
“I thought we were a little slow in the first half,” Mount coach Paul Jacques said. “In the second half, we definitely came out firing, ready to go. It was tough, we didn't score anything [in our opener against] North Smithfield, then in the first half here we didn't score. Couple heads were hanging down, but once we got that first one, everything seemed to click.”
The Mounties earned a point in a 0-0 draw with the Northmen Friday, and added three to their total this week against a rebuilding Prout team that was in last year's Division II semifinals.
Senior Pat Kumar opened the floodgates for Mount, scoring the game's first goal minutes into the second half. Sophomore Thomas Burke was credited with the middle goal, and John Collins wrapped things up with a late chip shot.
“Ball movement was a lot better in the second half after that first goal,” said Jacques. “Communication all around was better as well.”
The goals by seniors Kumar and Collins came following a frustrating start to the day for the duo. Collins failed to connect on an open shot early on in Monday's contest, and Kumar had whiffed on a chance just minutes before he made the score 1-0.
“Those seniors help out a lot,” said Jacques. “Especially that first one being scored by one of the captains, [Kumar]. He missed what should have been an easier goal earlier, then he came back and found the back of the net, which is great to see. John Collins scored the other goal by a senior. It was a great ball by [Jake] MacKinnon, our sophomore back there, and Collins finished it off.”
Kumar fought through some Prout traffic to thread the needle and send a shot past Crusader goalie Kyle McCutcheon, while Collins used a nice feed from MacKinnon to patiently draw McCutcheon out of goal. Once the Prout junior had committed to approaching Collins, he simply chipped the ball up and over the keeper.
The second goal of the game was probably the team's best demonstration of their passing abilities. Martin Piette chased down a loose ball on the end line that the Prout defenders had given up on, and after walking the tight-rope of the in-out line, delivered a perfect pass to Burke, who lined it into the back of the net.
The patient, sure-footed passing for the Mounties meant that their defense had little work to do to earn a win. Sophomore goalie Jacob Maddalena stopped all three shots that came his way, and a senior-laden defense forced countless turnovers to stop the advance of the Crusaders before it even got into the final third of the pitch.
“I feel very confident with our defense,” said Jacques. “With Dawson Danneker back there, he's tremendous. Three-year starter and one of our captains. He was tremendous today and he was tremendous on Friday against North Smithfield. His vocalization helps a lot.”
“Jacob Maddalena getting his first varsity win in his second varsity start,” was also great, he continued. “He didn't face many shots but he was in the right position when they did [manage to get a shot off].”
Now sitting at 1-0-1, Mount will play its home opener on Thursday against the vaunted Sentinels. Smithfield dismantled Prout 7-0 last week, and return most of a team that went 122-1 a year ago.