Cumberland suffers 2OT heartbreak

Moses Brown wins, hosts Tolman in quarterfinals

PROVIDENCE – Immediately upon hearing the shrill of the head referee’s final whistle, Cumberland High senior Conner Elliott collapsed to the drenched turf, apparently in tears.

Milliseconds later, sophomore Ryan Ledoux followed suit, and senior Edwin Goncalves could be seen sobbing into his white jersey.

Those scenes described how the gritty Clippers felt after suffering a bitter, 1-0 double-overtime loss to fourth-seeded Moses Brown in a R.I. Division I Tournament preliminary game at Campanelli Field on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.

Incredibly, the result came down to midfielder Ryan Johnston pitching home an attempt with only 3:19 left in the second extra session. On the play, Johnston had knocked a bouncing shot at the cage, but senior keeper/co-captain Jake Reed had already committed to the play yards away. Junior Cooper Costa hustled after the shot and looked to try to head it from harm, but it flew further inside the netting’s “ceiling.”

Not all CHS players, however, seemed so despondent. Sure, Reed was crushed, but he chose to look at the bright side of his team, this game and their collective season.

“Cooper made a great effort, but he just couldn’t get there in time; it’s too bad,” Reed said after his Clippers closed their campaign at 3-8-5. “Dealing with this, it’s tough right now, but the fact is we weren’t supposed to be here. We lost 14 seniors last year, and – before the season – no one even expected us to make the playoffs, so this is a job well done to all the boys.

“Really, we took the No. 4 seed to double overtime and almost won,” he added. “The last time we faced them, during the regular season, we tied, 1-1, so we always play them tight. I can’t tell you why. They’re

a great, great team, but it’s always close when we play them. I still don’t know why.”

Head coach Justin claimed he had a reason.

“We have played them tough, both last year and this year,” he stated. “We usually play teams that play a good brand of soccer, and we like to play a similar brand. Sometimes you’ll play against more athletic teams, and others who like to play it super direct, but Moses Brown is a team that likes to play the ball, and so do we.

“It becomes a cal competition.”

Next up for the Quakers is fifth-seeded Tolman, which dismissed 12th-ranked Central, 4-1, in a preliminary clash on Tuesday night.

As for Cumberland, it previously had snagged the final and 13th seed in the tourney, but played far above that ranking throughout this one. It dominated most of the first OT stanza, yet the Quakers (9-2-5) almost drew first blood with 2:40 remaining in the first overtime. Henry Kirkman hustled after a long through pass down the middle and smoked a grounder at Reed, who responded with a sprawling stop.

After an up-and-down opening 40 minutes, the Quakers held the momentum for perhaps the first 13 minutes or so. In fact, at the 4:48 mark, midfielder Ariel Shirzadi gained control of a rebound deep down the right side and drilled a shot at Reed, who responded with the cradle save.

And, not even eight minutes later, Sam Ramos scooped past a defender, who had fallen, and knocked a try toward the right post. That, however, slid just wide.

Resendes

really good,

physi

After that, the Clippers held the momentum for nearly the rest of the half. Perhaps the finest opportunity came with 13:31 on the scoreboard clock; that’s when Elliott drove a long through pass through to the streaking Ledoux, who crushed a liner at senior goalie Harry Runci.

It appeared the shot had too much steam on it not to score, but Runci made a phenomenal deflection to save the day for the Quakers.

Actually, Elliott came close again with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation. Following junior Braedon LeClair’s right-side corner kick, he appeared to avoid a scrum in front and poked the ball at goal, but Runci again came up big.

Runci closed with five saves, Reed nine.

“It wasn’t an own goal, and that’s what I told Cooper,” Resendes noted later. “The ball was bouncing and Cooper was trying to clear it from the line. I told him it was a goal from their guy, that it was just a timing thing.

“Like I said, I’m very proud of the kids,” he continued. “They’ve worked hard. Results may not reflect how well we’ve been playing the last couple of matches, but we’ve been in every game and we continued to build as a team. Hey, we played the No. 4 team really close; we have a lot to be proud of.” 0 0

**

Cumberland 0

Moses Brown 0

First half: No scoring.

Second half: No scoring.

First OT: No scoring.

Second OT: MB – Ryan Johnston (una.) 86:41. Shots on goal: Cumberland 5, Moses Brown 9; Goalie saves: Jake Reed (CUMB) 8, Harry Runci (MB) 5.

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