Rivers keys Burrillville home win
Senior scores twice, injures nose vs. Tigers
BURRILLVILLE — Brian Rivers had an eventful afternoon.
Just seven minutes into Wednesday afternoon’s Division III contest against visiting Tiverton, Rivers fired in a free kick from 30 yards to give the Broncos the lead.
Minutes later, Rivers was hit in the nose by Tiverton midfielder Tyler Murray and had to leave the field with blood running down his face and onto his white jersey.
After spending the rest of the half on the bench, Rivers returned to the game and helped the first-place Broncos secure an important three points. With just four minutes left in the contest, Rivers flicked a Christian Toti free kick with the back of his head past goal Devin Guerrera to lift Burrillville to a 2-1 victory.
“Christian sent a great ball and I was there and I just flicked it back and it went in,” Rivers said. “It’s good to get the win, but it still tells us we have a lot to work on, but we’re just glad we won. We need to try to move the ball more and get the ball wide before we try to shoot.”
Burrillville (9-1-1 Division III) is back in action Thursday afternoon against struggling Johnston. Rivers said he wasn’t sure if his nose was broken, which could determine whether he plays against the Panthers.
“He just kind of jumped and turned into me when I was heading the ball and my nose took all the contact,” Rivers said. “I don’t really know if it’s broken, but I hope not. It hurts a little bit, but it’s not that bad.”
The Broncos haven’t been at their best since defeating St. Raphael 4-1 two weeks ago, as Cranston East handed the division leaders their first defeat last week at Cranston Stadium. Veteran coach John Lafauci knows his team needs to improve with Davies and Exeter-West Greenwich coming up on the schedule.
The Patriots, who knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs in the semifinals last season, also only have one loss and one tie.
“We’re just not working the system the way they should right now,” Lafauci said. “It wasn’t so much that today because we were getting beat to an awful lot of balls today. I don’t know if we were flat today, but it just seems like we play down to whoever we’re playing.
“You have to put the pedal to the medal and I thought we would when we went up 1-0, but then they beat us to the balls in the middle of the field. If we play like that against Davies on Monday we’re going to be in trouble.”
Tiverton (3-4-3 Division III) finished off a stretch of four straight road games with Wednesday’s defeat. The Tigers received a firsthalf goal from Murray and seven saves from Guerrera. The Tigers begin a stretch of three straight home games with a Friday night contest against Scituate.
Rivers’ eventful afternoon began in the seventh minute when the Broncos secured a free kick 30 yards from Tiverton’s goal. Rivers stepped up and fired a direct shot past Guerrera.
“The goalie looked like he was over to the (near) side of the net, so I just curled it to the far post and it went in,” Rivers said.
Tiverton tied the game in the 31st minute when a Dylan Medeiros free kick from 35 yards was shot past Ben Lamoureaux by Murray. Lamoureaux made six saves in the win.
Burrillville junior forward Justin Krieg nearly won the game in the 64th minute when a Tiverton defender slipped, allowing the Bronco to break in on goal, but his point-blank shot was saved by Guerrera.
But, just when it seemed the Tigers would make the long trek home with a crucial point, Rivers scored to finish off a memorable afternoon.
“He’s been great for us all year back there,” Lafauci said of Rivers. “The first goal was a nice one and the second goal was really big.”