Saints topple unbeaten
Rodriguez penalty kicks keep Saints flying high
St. Raphael upsets previously perfect Cranston East
CRANSTON — St. Raphael coach Frank Barcarcel readily admits he built his last two squads around dynamic forward Derek Delahoz, so when the All-New England talent graduated in the spring, the Saints had to develop a new identity.
Finding that identity took a few weeks for the young Saints because they started the Division III season with just one victory in their first six games.
Finally, thanks to the play of a talented group of defenders and the improvement of forward Max Rodriguez, the Saints started winning games. The Saints entered Monday’s game against undefeated Cranston East unbeaten in their last six games.
Behind a pair of penalty kicks from Rodriguez and a perfectly-executed counterattack goal that was finished off by Dylan Poilon in the 76th minute, St. Raphael left Cranston Stadium with an impressive 3-1 victory.
“Our whole practices the last few years were simply about getting Derek the ball,” Barcarcel said. “Now, we’re practicing the basic stuff and we have enough technical guys that we can put something together. We’re just trying to keep the ball on the ground and play combinations.
“I think this win gives the kids a lot of confidence. We’re still so young that you don’t know how it’s going to go. If we were a mature team you could say that this win was what we needed. I’m hoping that they feed off of this.”
St. Raphael (7-4-2 Division III) is now back in the hunt for a home quarterfinal thanks to Monday’s upset win. The Saints currently have 23 points, which is good enough for fifth place. Second-place Narragansett has 26 and is followed by Pilgrim (25 points) and Ponaganset (24 points).
The Saints will see the Chieftains to end the regular season, but first they have two very winnable games coming up to end this week. The Saints host Paul Cuffee Thursday before travelling to East Providence Friday afternoon to play Providence Country Day.
“Honestly, I’m extremely proud of the team,” defender Aaron Flynn said. “We knew coming into this match that it would be difficult. They gave us a difficult test in the second half and we weren’t sure how to handle it, but we got it together and found a way on defense.”
Cranston East (12-1-1 Division III) is still on its way to winning the regularseason title, as coach Richard Grenier’s Thunderbolts hold an 11-point lead over the Mariners for first place. The two sides will meet Thursday in Narragansett.
The Saints had the better scoring chances early in the first half and they were rewarded for their hard work in the 19th minute when a Cranston East defender made a rash challenge in the box. Rodriguez coolly slotted the penalty kick to right of goalie Gio Canales.
Cranston East responded just 30 seconds later when the state’s leading scorer, sophomore midfielder Kevin Murillo, played a pass to Richmond Miamen. The senior turned to his left and curled a shot with his left foot past the dive of SRA goalie Spencer Hsu.
“We weren’t sure what kind of team we had until we saw Cranston East because they are the team to beat,” Barcarcel said. “When you’re young and you’re small like we are, you have to play smart and the few chances that we get we have to put them in the net.”
Cranston East simply dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second half, pinning the young Saints in their own half. The hosts nearly took the lead in the 49th minute when Miamen found space in the box to unleash another leftfooted effort, but Hsu blocked it.
St. Raphael earned a second penalty kick in the 64th minute when Rodriguez calmly deposited into the net. This time, however, the Saints held on to their advantage for longer than 30 seconds.
“We knew they were going to come out strong in the second half, so we were ready for it,” defender Julian Giraldo said. “We had a plan and we scouted it out. I’m very proud of my team.”
The Saints executed a perfect counterattack in the 76th minute to finish the scoring. Rodriguez received a pass with his back to goal and played a ball into the feet of Cano Morales, who slid a pass into the box to Poilon. The midfielder rocketed a shot under Canales to secure the victory.