Novans advance in playoffs
Woonsocket looks great against Toll Gate in prelims
WOONSOCKET — Woonsocket freshman goalie Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan’s second varsity start went a lot better than his maiden voyage in net for the Villa Novans.
A week after allowing five goals in a defeat to undefeated St. Raphael, Robinson-O’Hagan was superb in net in the No. 7 Villa Novans’ Division III preliminary round contest against No. 10 Toll Gate Tuesday afternoon at Barry Field.
Robinson-O’Hagan, who spent most of the season playing stopper, controlled his penalty area on corner kicks and made eight saves to post his first high school shutout. The Villa Novans advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal round with a 2-0 victory behind first-half goals from seniors Harrison Blais and Hezekiah Adeyeye.
“I was confident because I’m used to going in and playing different positions to help the team,” Robinson-OHagan said after recording the team’s second shutout of the season. “I’m a natural athlete, so I went in and did what I had to do. I just went for the ball and took risks. If you’re not taking risks then you can’t be in goal. If they score, they score – it happens.”
“It was a big secret for us, he was hiding at stopper all season for us,” Woonsocket first-year coach Joe Gomes said. “I had heard he played keeper, so I tried him in net in a few games at the end of the season and he played unbelievable. He gives the team a lot of confidence with the way he comes out and grabs the ball. He’s also very good in the air. We’ve been practicing with this in mind for the last three or four practices.”
Woonsocket (10-6 Division III) will travel to No. 2 Pilgrim Saturday afternoon for a spot in next week’s Division III semifinals. The squads have already met once in Warwick this season, with the Pats overcoming a 2-1 deficit in the first half thanks to a pair of goals from Nick Jaggi and a pair of assists from Paola Frias and David D’Andrea.
The key, according to Gomes, is the Novans need to finish their chances against goal Max Caracuzo.
“We were up for most of the game and they scored two goals at the end,” Gomes said. “We have to capitalize on our opportunities because we know we’re going to get chances against them. We have to finish. The last time we played them we didn’t finish.”
After dropping their last four games of the regular season, which forced them into playing a preliminary round game, the Novans need a good start against a Toll Gate squad that dropped its last four games of the regular season.
It took the Novans just four minutes to score the game-winning goal when Clinton Kittavong played a through ball in between Toll Gate’s centra defenders. An uncovered Blais trapped the ball, turned and fired a low shot past goalie Jayden Pereira.
“Getting the lead was very important,” Gomes said. “I told the guys the first 10 minutes of the game are very important, and I thought we came out firing in the first 10-15 minutes. It was good to play with the lead.”
Robinson-O’Hagan, who had very little to do in the first half, also felt more comfortable playing with a cushion.
“Getting the lead so early was very nice, it really boosted up my confidence because if they scored we were still in it,” Robinson-O’Hagan said. “This was very nice.”
Toll Gate proved to be its own worst enemy to allow Woonsocket to go into halftime with a two-goal advantage. Blais received the ball in the penalty area before going by one Titan. Another Toll Gate player came over and clipped the senior for a penalty kick. Adeyeye coolly fired a shot to the right of Pereira in the 36th minute.
Woonsocket lost one of its important players in the midfield to an injury early in the second half, which allowed the Titans to take some control of the contest. The Titans had three corner kicks inside the first eight minutes of the half, but Robinson-O’Hagan and former goalie turned defender Juan Ceron helped keep the two-goal advantage.
As the half went on, the Titans started to feel aggrieved by a few refereeing decisions. In all, six Toll Gate players received yellow cards, while a Woonsocket player was also booked.