Jacques scores two second-half goals to earn Mount tie

WOONSOCKET— When Mount St. Charles senior reserve goalie Abby Dalpe dove to her left and made a superb second-half save to deny visiting Moses Brown its fourth goal, it seemed like a nice moment in an otherwise frustrating homecoming defeat for the Mounties.

Viewed the through the lens of what happened over the ensuing 25 minutes, the save was the key moment of the game. The Mounties trailed the Quakers by two goals at the time, but junior forward Renee Jacques scored two goals in the final 20 minutes to earn the Mounties a 33 Division II draw with the talented Quakers.

“I really wanted to kick the season off and go in the right direction because we don’t have many games left,” Jacques said. “We knew that they were a really good team and I wanted to finish this game off really strong for my coach and my teammates. We’ve been through a lot as a group this season.”

“I was very proud the girls kept on playing for 80 minutes and kept on pushing and pushing,” Mount St. Charles coach Marek Wolny said. “I have to say that save by Abby was huge because if that ball went in, it would’ve prompted us to think it would’ve been really tough to come back. And, once you get that mentally in your head, it makes it difficult.”

Mount St. Charles (3-5-4 Division II) has now secured a tie in three of its last four games, but the Mounties are in the midst of their most difficult stretch of games. The Mounties finish the regular season against secondplace North Smithfield, undefeated Scituate and Ponaganset.

It looked the like Mounties were going to be on the wrong end of a blowout for the second time this week with 20 minutes to go, but Jacques cut her team’s deficit in half when she scored after good work from sophomore Julia Kamp.

Jacques scored her sixth goal of the season when the team’s leading scorer, junior Katie Lynch, fired a left-footed ball from the left touchline into the penalty box. Jacques beat her defender and goalie Kelly Graziano to the ball and headed it into the vacated net to secure the tie.

“Me and Katie work really well together and we’ve been playing together for two years,” Jacques said. “I just kind of read her mind sometimes. Honestly, no I didn’t think I’d get there before the goalie but I really wanted to get the ball.”

Moses Brown (7-2-2 Division II) had a chance to move within one point of Burrillville for third place in the division, as it is the Quakers now find themselves in a battle with Chariho, Westerly, North Providence, Wheeler and Ponaganset for fourth place and a home quarterfinal.

The Mounties needed less than a minute to grab the lead when sophomore Delaney Green scored from close range, but the Quakers answered with a pair of goals over the next two minutes. Speedy sophomore Marybeth Fitzsimmons, a Burrillville resident, scored both goals to put the visitors ahead.

The Quakers took advantage of a defensive error and a goalkeeping error in the 20th minute when Victoria Matson scored to increase the lead to two.

“We were not winning the 50-50 balls and we were making mistakes at the back, which made it tough,” Wolny said. “That turned it into a 3-1 game. I wouldn’t say they were overpowering us, but they were playing great. I loved the way they were using triangles and I love the way their goalie played.”

Wolny said the message at halftime was to stay the course, which proved to be the right decision, as the Mounties’ more experienced players saved the team from a loss. With junior Kaitlyn D’Abrosca stepping in at sweeper and Lynch running the game in the center of midfield, the home side found a way to battle back for a valuable point.

“I’m not sure how many more points we need, but I’m just telling the girls to win every game we have left,” Wolny said.