Broncos fall to Lincoln School
Lynx, Warriors move on to D-II title game
Burrillville ends field hockey playoff run
CRANSTON – Just before the start of Burrillville Division II semifinal against top-seeded Lincoln School on Thursday night, head coach Susan Burgess was approached by a friend on the teams’ sideline at Cranston Stadium and asked, “What do you think? Can you pull this off?” Burgess just laughed. Minutes later, when she addressed her club, the mentor pointed at the flag above the press box and said, “You see the flagpole over there? It’s not at halfstaff for us!”
Her players chuckled, then went to business.
The good news was that Burgess’ bunch, the fourth seed with a losing record, played the Lynx tough for over 14 minutes of the initial half. In the end, however, Lincoln School recorded four goals in the final 15:40 before the break and sailed to a 6-0 triumph.
With the verdict, LS not only improved to 17-0-0 overall but also qualified to face second-seeded Wheeler (a 3-0 victor over feisty third-ranked Lincoln High) in the championship tilt at 2:30 p.m., Sunday at Bryant University.
Senior midfielder Emma Keene-Reinhard scored two goals, while freshman Georgianne DeFeo notched a tally and two assists, senior Sophia Shekarchi a goal and feed and junior Addie DeFeo a score for LS.
The Lynx, who displayed more speed, anticipation, communication and passing, scored on three of 10 first-half penalty corners.
When it comes to the “half-staff” comment prior to the start of the game, Burgess noted, “I just meant that Lincoln School should be aware that Burrillville was going to give it everything it had; that the half-staff was for them, not us.
“You know what, I thought we played with a lot of grit and determination,” she added after her team fell to 6-10-2 overall. “They were just quicker to the ball, had more depth, etc., and they’re a turf team. They can play faster because they can practice faster. It’s not like playing on grass, like we do.
“I only had three full-time starters coming back from last year, kids who played in every game. All the rest are very inexperienced, so we overachieved this season.
“The first 15 minutes were pretty good; we played good defense, but we were thin as far as depth and experience. That didn’t help. They also have a lot of talent.”
The Lynx couldn’t take advantage of their first four penalty corners, but they did on the fifth. With 15:40 remaining in the half, junior Rachael Romain delivered a stellar pass inside to Shekarchi, who was stationed by the left post. She whacked it home for the 1-0 lead.
The favored squad converted its sixth corner when Keene-Reinhard ripped an approximate 12-yard bullet past senior keeper Jade Simoneau (11 saves) with 10:06 left. That started an eruption, as Keene-Reinhard fired in a feed from Georgianne DeFeo at 22:51; and junior Addie DeFeo an unassisted tally at 27:39.
All told, the Lynx notched their last three tallies in the span of 7:45.
It looked as if Lincoln School would add to its lead in the first three minutes of the final session when Georgianne DeFeo crushed a long shot in toward the right post. It would’ve sailed in, if not for Simoneau’s phenomenal flash of her left pad.
Less than two minutes later, the same DeFeo roped a long shot in from the left side, and it looked to be heading wide of the right post; senior Clarisse Kerr-Abraham, however, redirected it inside the netting for the 5-0 cushion.
DeFeo closed it with a snap shot with 8:40 remaining in regulation.
“The first game we played against them, I think the score was 10-0, so we got shellacked,” Burgess stated. “The second game was at our place, and I think we kept it score- less before halftime, but they scored three or four goals late in the second.
“My goal here was to keep it scoreless at the break, get to halftime and regroup. We played tough, but – again – they were better.”
As for the Lions, they deserved a better fate, or – at the very least – a closer score.
Head coach Lea Miguel nevertheless expressed pride and affection for her troops after the defeat, one that closed their season at 6-10-2 overall.
“The first time we played Wheeler, we lost, 9-1, and the second time, it was 5-0 … so this is a huge moral victory,” she grinned afterward, assistant Nadeem Saqib by her side. “We had a game plan in place, and that was to keep the ball on the outside and try to shut down their key players (including junior Olivia Bush and sophomore Victoria Wassouf).”
Lincoln succeeded on one count, but Bush scored a goal and assisted on another in the first half, pacing the Warriors to a 2-0 cushion.
Senior Juliana DiCenso registered what proved to be the clincher just 7:15 after the opening draw on feeds from senior Meghan Keenan and Bush; and Bush notched an unassisted tally with 12:36 remaining before intermission.
Just 2:06 into the second half, 12th-grader Annie McCauley poked one past senior netminder Maddie Flaxington for the 3-0 advantage, but it looked as if Lincoln had sliced the deficit to 3-1 with 20:16 remaining in regulation. That’s when junior Jennah Saqib smoked a try off a penalty corner through Wheeler goalie Victoria Keliher.
That, however, was disallowed by the officiating crew.
“They said the ball had never made its way completely out of the circle before it could re-enter; my girls said it did,” Miguel stated. “The final score should have been 2-1, if that. Still, our girls played awesome, and I’m so proud of them.”