Loparto leads the Lions
Lincoln senior scores twice in win over Coventry
LINCOLN — Visiting Coventry was dominating Thursday evening’s Division I contest at Ferguson Field and appeared on the precipice of taking the lead. The Lincoln girls soccer team needed somebody – anybody – to stem the tide.
Just as she did two days earlier against Cranston West, senior captain Lily Loparto stepped up and bailed out the Lions.
After the Oakers hit the crossbar and wasted two breakaways in the second half, Loparto produced the game-winning goal in the 69th minute when she smashed a left-footed volley over Coventry goalie Madison Messier to lift the Lions to a 2-1 victory.
“We just needed a goal and I was just like, ‘I’m going to try and volley this and get it into the net.’ That’s what I did,” said Loparto, who scored both goals against the Oakers.
“This is a good win, but we need to work harder in the next games because in the first half we needed to step up and play better. We needed to play with the intensity we had against Cranston West.”
“Lily is a special player and she’s shown us that for four years,” Lincoln coach Chris Allen said. “This game was a great example of how she leads this team by example. She put everything she had into this game. She went where she needed to go to help the team and still go back into her position. She’s a driving force for morale.”
Coventry (1-6-2 Division I) reached the Division I semifinals last season for the first time in school history, but the Oakers’ inability to win close games might keep them out of the playoffs. Thursday’s defeat was Coventry’s fourth by just one goal. Senior forward Loren Messier scored the visitors’ lone goal in the 39th minute, but Coventry had plenty of other chances to score.
Along with sophomore Skyla Landry hitting goalie Jackie Andrews’ crossbar in the 46th minute, Coventry had a few other golden opportunities to take the lead wasted by poor finishing in the penalty box.
“We’ve been struggling to score, so of course it’s frustrating,” Coventry coach Chris Daigneault said. “This is the way we played against La Salle. We’re creating chances, but we’re hitting the crossbar or skimming the post – we’re not getting the breaks right now. They turn around and put a shot in the top corner that almost no goalie would save.”
Lincoln (4-3-0 Division I) has now won three straight contests headed into the biggest regular season game, Monday night at 6:30 at Tucker Field against Cumberland. The last time the Lions crossed the Blackstone River to face the Clippers, Julianne Ross and Abby Drezek tore the Lions apart, but Lincoln won last season’s game at Ferguson Field.
With both teams sitting on four wins, the winner of the contest will move back into the race to host a quarterfinal, while the loser will need to fight to host a first-round game.
“Big game against Cumberland, so we just need to reset,” Allen said. “We’ll give them [today] off and go back to work at practice on Saturday. We’ll go into the game fresh and ready to go.”
For the second time in three days, the Lions started slowly, but for the second time in three days, Andrews was there to bail out her teammates with timely saves. The junior made 10 saves before she was injured on a save late in the second half. Freshman reserve goalie Amy Stevens made three saves to preserve the win.
The Lions opened the scoring against the run of play when senior Sarah Fellingham played a ball to Loparto, who ripped a shot past Messier.
Coventry responded by dominating the final 22 minutes of the half. Thanks to the midfield play of Sydney Resenders, Anna Kalooski, Landry, Lila Kalooski and Katarina Capezza, the Oakers controlled territory and broke down Lincoln’s trapping defense.
“Our midfield is just phenomenal,” Daigneault said. “I play five of them and they just dominated the midfield, I thought. Our strikers have to finish and they just didn’t finish.”
Loparto did finish – twice – to help Lincoln avoid a potentially frustrating defeat. The senior took a pass from classmate Sadie Lafleur and decided to rip a shot from the top of the box. The shot flew past Messier in the 69th minute to put Lincoln up 2-1. Loparto nearly had a hat trick, but her long-range effort minutes later clanged off the crossbar.
Coventry 10 -1
Lincoln 11 -2
First half – L, Lily Loparto (Sarah Fellingham (18:00) C, Loren Messier (Madison Resendes), 39:00.
Second half – L, Loparto (Sadie Lafleur), 69:00.
Saves – C, Madison Messier (8 saves); L, Jackie Andrews (10 saves); Amy Stevens (3 saves).