Tolman tops Shea
Defending state champs dent Shea’s playoff hopes
Defending state champions look dominant in 3-0 win over
crosstown rival Raiders
PAWTUCKET — As far as talented junior midfielder Aliou Sissoko is concerned, Tolman High is on a roll right now, and he wants it to continue for the rest of the Division I campaign.
He and his Tigers had just confounded archrival Shea, 3-0, in a rare home game at Max Read Field on Thursday night, and Sissoko – who notched a key insurance tally near the midway point of the second half – admitted the chemistry is pretty solid.
“This win is huge, and it feels good,” he stated after Tolman improved to 7-4-1 overall. “After struggling in the beginning (of the season), we finally started to pick it up, and we’re moving on up through the standings. We’d like to win all of the games we have left to enter the playoffs.”
According to coach Dan Silva, the Tigers clinched its sixth consecutive victory since junior keeper Nelton Semedo returned from injury, and that it sort of rejuvenated his charges.
“We haven’t lost since Nelton came back,” he offered. “You know, we started off very poorly; we had played a lot of top competition early and a lot of middleof-the-pack teams, so we’ve done what we were supposed to do up to this point.”
It also marked the first time in his six-year career at Tolman that his club had outdueled the Raiders, who fell to 2-10-1 in league play (311-1 overall).
“To be fair, we were the favorites here, and we should have won the game,” he said. “It feels good to win it, and we did because we played pretty well overall.”
Senior captain Juan Barrios registered two goals for the Tigers, while twin brother Roy assisted on the other.
The hosts opened the scoring with only 10 ticks remaining in the opening session; that’s when the ball caromed to Juan Barrios five yards beyond the penalty box in the field’s middle, and he scorched a ground past sophomore goalie Carlos Dos Santos for the 1-0 lead.
The score stood for the first 18 minutes of the second half, until … Officials awarded Tolman a corner kick to the left of Dos Santos, and Roy Barrios took it. The ball sailed toward the front post, and senior Patrick Pires (a Blackstone Valley Prep transfer) leaped for the header, but his try caromed off the crossbar.
It immediately bounced toward Sissoko, who apparently lunged forward and planted it in the net for the 2-0 cushion.
“Patrick headed it and it hit the crossbar,” Sissoko recalled. “Coach told us to be hungry for the ball, so when I saw it, I ran towards it and tapped it in. I was just there to clean it up.”
Still, it looked like the Raiders would slice the deficit to one when junior William Dabo drilled a long line drive from the right hash marks at the Tigers’ Semedo (five stops), but the latter mustered a phenomenal diving block.
With 11:52 left in regulation, the Barrios brothers hooked up on the insurance goal that iced the win.
Those registering outstanding defensive play for Tolman were seniors Alex Almeida, Ruben Dacosta, Salim Chakhsi, Juan Barrios and Tiago Dacosta
For the Raiders, they included juniors Inmer Guerra, Luis Mendes, Dabo and Leonardo Lopes.
“We played hard, but we were missing a lot of our starting players,” noted SHS mentor Pierre Ridore. “One was out with a red card from the last game, and two others just didn’t show up. We didn’t have any subs, but we battled. It’s too bad because this is always a good rivalry game.
“No excuses, though. They beat us and good for them. I think this is the first time we lost to them in at least the last dozen years.”
Shea 0–0 –0
Tolman 1–2 –3
First half: TOL – Juan Barrios (una.) 39:50.
Second half: TOL – Aliou Sissoko (Roy Barrios) 57:37; TOL – Barrios (R. Barrios) 68:08.
Shots on goal: Shea 5, Tolman 11. Goalie saves: Carlos Dos Santos (S) 8, Nelton Semedo (TOL) 5.
J.
Photo by Ernest A. Brown