Broncos battle back to tie SRA
Contreras scores twice in first half for visitors
BURRILLVILLE — After picking up points in just two of their first nine games, the St. Raphael girls soccer team was staring at another season without a trip to the playoffs.
And then the Saints started playing good soccer against some of the better teams in the division. The Saints earned credible draws with West Warwick, Mount St. Charles and Wheeler before visiting talented Burrillville Thursday afternoon.
For 40 minutes, the Saints were on their way to their biggest victory since returning to Division II two seasons ago. Forward Kayla Contreras scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half to give the Saints a comfortable lead at halftime. The Broncos battled back with goals from Jocelyn Valliere and Victoria Patriarca in the first 10 minutes of the second half to earn a 2-2 Division II draw at Gledhill Field.
“Happy that we walked away with a point considering we were playing a good, strong team,” St. Raphael coach Andre Martins said. “Being up 2-0 and to give up the goals we did is frustrating. But, I’m happy with the way the girls played and they fought the whole game. It’s good to walk away with at least a point.”
“I’m happy and disappointed,” Burrillville coach Jeff Lavigne said. “I’m disappointed with how flat we came out and we definitely underestimated them. I think the girls took it for granted and were coming in on a little lull after the loss on Tuesday. We had some injuries, but that’s no excuse because [SRA] came out hard and they were determined.”
St. Raphael (1-7-5 Division II) finishes up a four-game road swing with a trip to Chariho Tuesday before returning to McKinnon-Alves to face Classical and Cranston East. As pleased as martins has been with the way his team has played in the last week, the reality is the Saints need to win games to make the playoffs.
“We’ve gone the last four games unbeaten, but we still have a long way to go to get into the playoffs,” Martins said. “If we continue in this form and we continue to keep going forward, we’ll be all right.”
Burrillville (8-2-2 Division II) is putting itself in danger of missing out on a home quarterfinal because they’ve now earned just seven points in their last five games. Currently, the Broncos have a four-point lead over Moses Brown for third place, but the Quakers have two games in hand. North Providence, Wheeler, Westerly and Chariho are also in position to earn a home quarterfinal.
After recent losses to North Smithfield and Scituate, Lavigne talked about taking advantage of goal-scoring opportunities because they don’t come often against good teams. The Broncos wasted another one of those good chances in the 21st minute when Caysie Gautreau played a cross to the top of the six-yard box that was looped over the net by Morgan Bassett.
The Saints, who hit the post in the 19th minute on a superb left-footed strike by Lily Codman, grabbed the lead in the 31st minute when goalie Nicole Ethier pushed a Gianna Medeiros free kick into the path of Contreras, who slid a shot into the vacated net.
Contreras doubled the lead in the 38th minute when she used her speed to go on a oneperson counterattack. The forward picked the ball up at midfield, motored down the right side and then proceeded to loop a shot from the top of the box over Ethier.
“We wanted to play strong in the midfield and break when we had the chances to break,” Martins said. “It worked out well for us and we scored twice.”
The Broncos have routinely outplayed their opponents in second halves recently but failed to find the back of the net. That wasn’t the case Thursday, as the Broncos grabbed a goal in the 43rd minute when a Valliere boot was punched into the bet by SRA’s goalie.
Burrillville tied the game six minutes later when Sam Prario clipped a ball past the SRA defense and Patriarca was on hand to tap the ball into an open net. The Broncos continued to control the tempo and pace, but the Saints held on for their fourth straight draw.
“It’s the mentality and the attitude we need to see for 80 minutes,” Lavigne said. “We had that at the beginning of the season, but the season is a grind. That’s why it’s not necessarily the team that’s playing great at the beginning, but the team that can stay up until the end that usually does it because the season is grind. We’re feeling it right now – mentally and physically.”
The Broncos, who will spend Saturday afternoon playing in alumni game, head to Tiverton Tuesday night. Martins and the Saints visit the Chargers the same night and he hopes he can get the same effort out of his defense and his hard-working wingbacks.
“In this shape that we play, those two outside midfielders have to work so hard,” Martins said. “Britney Handrigan and Lily Codman were out there. It’s a demanding position and they played really well.”