Avengers too much for Lions
East Greenwich earns Division I victory over Lions
EAST GREENWICH – It's at the point in the Rhode Island field hockey season where the standings pretty accurately represent the competitive level of the teams. Particularly in Division I this season, there has been a pronounced difference between the top and bottom halves of the league.
East Greenwich and Lincoln entered their game on Tuesday with just two teams between them in the standings, but with widely different records. The 7-4-1 Avengers picked up another win by downing the 2-8-3 Lions, 5-0.
Courtney McMullen – who leads the state in points – bolstered her stats by scoring twice in the victory for the Avengers. Sophia Valicenti and and Erika Shipley also scored goals for EG.
The Avengers controlled the ball for most of the 60 minute contest on Tuesday, and the score would have been even more lopsided had it not been for the stout goaltending of Talia Torkomian, Torkomian – a senior who entered play with 188 saves to her credit – made a handful of nice kick saves that helped the Lions to keep the Avengers close.
Torkomian made three kick-saves on shots from McMullen alone, a feat not easily accomplished. The leading pointsscorer in the state also boasts one of the hardest shots, but Torkomian did a nice job of keeping her contained for the most part.
EG shot out to an early lead, earning five corner plays before the Lions earned their first. Valicenti put in the hard work to earn the Avenger's sixth set-piece play, and opened the scoring with an upclose goal in the 15th minute.
Shipley piled on from there, using an entry pass from Valicenti to double the EG lead to two goals. The Lions recovered nicely in the waning moments of the half, shutting out EG and earning two corners in the last five minutes of play.
McMullen scored off of a corner in the second minute of the second half, and the Avengers slowly but surely continued to control the game. The Avengers had seven second half corners to just one for the Lions.
The Lions look to end the season on a good note in their last two contests. Their home finale comes on Thursday against Cumberland (4-9) and they close out the season on the road against Moses Brown (10-1-1) next Tuesday.