Mounties survive Northmen comeback

Dias can’t overcome MSC’s balanced effort

WOONSOCKET — For the first 35 minutes of Friday afternoon’s Division III home game against visiting North Smithfield, the Mount St. Charles girls lacrosse team appeared to take a big step forward with the playoffs on the horizon.

Even though they were missing two important starters, the Mounties built a seven-goal advantage with just 15 minutes left in the contest thanks to the offensive work of Paige Broyles (four goals) and Lucy Baxter (two goals and two assists), and the defensive work of sophomore goalie Isabella Giacobbe (15 saves).

“They were moving the ball, they were communicating, they were keeping possession and they were making smart plays on the defensive side of the ball,” Mount St. Charles coach Amanda Frederickson said. “They were moving their legs and then they were getting back. It seems every game we get a lead and they just can’t hold it. I don’t know what the issue is, but they can’t hold it.”

North Smithfield, which hasn’t led a game at halftime since an April 18 contest at Toll Gate, battled back and was a crossbar away from sending the contest to overtime. Julia Dias scored two of her game-high five goals in the final seven minutes, while Madison Reynolds added a pair of goals in the final six minutes, as the Northmen battled back before suffering a 12-11 defeat.

The Northmen had the ball with 20 seconds left, but Dias’s close-range shot rocketed off of Giacobbe’s crossbar before the Mounties eventually scooped up the ball and killed off the remaining seconds.

“In the second half we actually showed up to play the game,” North Smithfield coach Nicole Turcotte said. “At halftime, my assistant coach [Courtney Lambrese] gave them a stern talk and we told them they have to show up if we want any chance to win the game because Mount is a good team – we could’ve beat them. If we had a little more time on the clock, we maybe could’ve.”

North Smithfield (2-6 Division III) received a gamehigh five goals and a pair of assists from Dias, a sophomore the Mounties tried to double as the game wore on. Reynolds scored a hat trick, while junior goalie Alyssa Narodowy made 14 saves and didn’t allow a goal in the final 11:14 of the game.

Mount St. Charles (6-3 Division III) certainly has the offense to compete with the likes of Westerly and Rogers atop the division, but the Mounties struggle to close out games. As was the case earlier in the season against Burrillville, Mount failed to control the draw after North Smithfield’s goals late in the half, which put more pressure on a young defensive group.

“Draw control is important because there aren’t many turnovers in girls lacrosse and you can just run down the field and shoot,” Frederickson said. “I think our issue was reacting to the draw controls instead of winning them. In the first half we won a lot of draw controls thanks to Fran [Giacobbe], but she can’t win them all. It’s the difference of an inch and if we can’t react to that on the defensive side, that’s a problem.”

Dias scored twice in the first three minutes to give the Northmen a one-goal lead, but Mount, behind the play of Broyles, Baxter and Lynch, scored the game’s next nine goals to grab an eight-goal advantage late in the half. The Northmen responded with nine of the game’s final 11 goals. North Smithfield 3 8 – 11 Mount St. Charles 10 2 – 12

First half – MSC, Sasha Mundy (unassisted), 1:50; NS, Julia Dias (unassisted), 2:14; NS, Dias (unassisted), 2:32; MSC, Paige Broyles (Francesca Giacobbe), 5:16; MSC, Macee Salley (Kacie McMath), 8:49; MSC, Lucy Baxter (Broyles), 12:18; MSC, Katie Lynch (Baxter), 12:28; MSC, Broyles (unassisted), 12:25; MSC, Broyles (Baxter), 12:42; MSC, Lynch (unassisted), 18:2; MSC, Broyles (unassisted), 19:22; MSC, Baxter (Lynch), 23:28; NS, Madison Reynolds (unassisted), 24:30.

Second half – NS, Dias (unassisted), 25:11; NS, Hope Smith (Brianna Venditti), 26:34; MSC, Lemos (unassisted), 28:34; MSC, Sasha Mundy (unassisted). 34:46; NS, Britany Beaudoin (Dias), 40:16; NS, Laurem Murphy (unassisted), 41:23; NS, Dias (unassisted), 42:24; NS, Dias (unassisted), 43:00; NS, Reynolds, 44:36; NS, Reynolds (Dias), 49:07.

Saves – NS, Alyssa Narodowy (14 saves); Isabella Giacobbe (15 saves).