Clippers stymie Lions
Cumberland edges out rival Lincoln, 3-1
CUMBERLAND — Monday night’s 3-1 victory over neighbor and Valley rival Lincoln was the perfect game for Cumberland girls soccer coach John Hoxsie.
The Clippers secured three important points in the chase for a home game in the Division I playoffs, but the win also provided Hoxsie with plenty of teachable moments for his young squad. The Clippers played their best half of the season to start the contest at Tucker Field, but Lincoln answered with one of its best halves of the season over the final 40 minutes.
“The first half we looked good – all over them and we scored three goals,” Hoxsie said. “We’ve only scored three goals in a half once this year. We finished those opportunities that we haven’t finished during the season. It really is a tale of two halves because they jumped all over us and scored inside of the first 40 seconds. I told the girls at halftime ‘What are you celebrating right now?’ We came out half asleep and they came at us hard.”
“Cumberland played a hard game and they’re a good team; they took advantage of our errors in the first half,” Lincoln coach Chris Allen said. “That put us in a hole going into the second half. We started to play as a unit with more purpose. The pressure was pretty much on them the entire half. We just need to finish our opportunities.”
Cumberland (5-4-1 Division I) remained in the hunt to host a Division I quarterfinal thanks to Monday’s win. The Clippers are now tied with Barrington and Scituate, just two points behind Smithfield for fourth place. The Sentinels just happen to be the Clippers’ next opponent tomorrow night in Smithfield.
Lincoln (4-4 Division I), which received a second-half goal from winger Sarah Fellingham, saw its three-game winning streak snapped by the Clippers. Lincoln sits two points behind Mt. Hope for a home first-round game, but the Lions have two games in hand on the Huskies.
Monday’s game – as both coaches pointed out – was simply about Cumberland taking advantage of its chances when it was in the ascendancy and Lincoln’s inability to put great chances past Juliette Vemmer (11 saves).
The turning point came in the 53rd minute when Lincoln sophomore winger Taylor Salome beat her defender and played a perfect cross to the far post. With an open net beckoning, Fellingham one-timed a shot over the net. Lincoln had other chances – Riley Soares hit the post and the crossbar – but the miss in the 53rd minute changed the game.
“We hit a couple of crossbars in addition to that early chance,” Allen said. “We had our opportunities, but we need to hone that and capitalize on them when we play again.”
Cumberland, on the other hand, finished all of its good scoring chances in the first half. The Clippers took the lead in the 17th minute when senior All-State midfielder Emma Tziachris attempted a through ball, but the pass bounced off a Lion and right to Calla DiGiovanni. The senior calmly possessed the ball and put a right-footed shot past freshman Amy Stevens.
Stevens could do nothing about the game-winning goal in the 34th minute because Tziachris smashed a bouncing ball into the roof of the net from 25 yards.
“Honestly, I had just kept missing chances earlier in the game, I just said to myself, ‘You know what, I’m just going to ram this ball into the net and see what happens,’” Tziachris said. “I just hit it as hard as I could.”
Just a minute before halftime, Cumberland grabbed a third goal when Olivia Sarmento played a ball to the top of the box where freshman Riley Trudeau was on hand to direct a shot past Stevens.
Tziachris and the Clipper captains knew Lincoln would attack in the second half, but the midfielder was philosophical about the way soccer games go sometimes.
“We said at halftime that we need to play tough and a little more defensive – we didn’t do that to the greatest extent,” Tziachris said. “There are just some games where you don’t play as well in the second half. We’re lucky we defended well because we didn’t do so well attacking.”
For his part, Allen made a tactical adjustment in the second half, moving Soares into an attacking midfield role to provide some assistance to leading scorer Lily Loparto, who battled gamely by herself against the Cumberland defense in the first half.
Lincoln scored just 40 seconds into the second half when Vemmer saved a low Loparto shot. The rebound rolled to the right side of the six-yard box where Fellingham was quickest to react and score. The Lions continued to pile on the pressure, but missed opportunities in the 53rd minute, 59th minute and 64th minute kept the hosts two-goal cushion.
On the other end of the field, Stevens made seven saves in the second half to keep Lincoln in the game. Monday was Stevens’ first varsity start after she replaced junior Jackie Andrews late in last week’s win over Coventry. Andrews was injured when she saved an Oaker shot with her leg.
“She was very poised out there and it was probably frightening for her to be making her first varsity start in a rivalry game,” Allen said. “I thought she performed well and kept her cool. She didn’t let those early goals affect her play, which shows poise.” Lincoln 01 -1
Cumberland 30 -3
First half – C, Calla DiGiovanni (Emma Tziachris), 17:00; C, Tziachris (unassisted), 34:00; C, Riley Trudeau (Olivia Sarmento), 39:00.
Second half – L, Sarah Fellingham (Lily Loparto), 41:00. Saves – L, Amy Stevens (9 saves); C, Juliette Vemmer (11 saves).