Tigers ease past Skippers
No. 1 Tolman faces SK in semifinals
PAWTUCKET — It was of Tolman High head coach Dan Silva’s volition to get out to a strong start during his squad’s Division I quarterfinal tilt against North Kingstown on Sunday afternoon.
The reason: During both teams’ opener earlier this season, the Skippers were allowed to hang around and ultimately earned a draw.
Silva’s bunch sure did their best to oblige their mentor. The Tigers notched two goals in the opening 22:33 and held on down the stretch for a 2-0 victory over the gutsy, ninth-seeded Skippers before perhaps 120 fans at Max Read Field.
“Getting those early goals was key for us,” Silva stated matter-of-factly as his players stretched and laughed around the team bench. “We hadn’t done that in a while, come out fast and put pressure on an opponent early.
“After we scored those two goals, we kind of had to weather the storm because North Kingstown picked it up a notch over the final 15 minutes of the first half,” he added. “We also had some breakdowns defensively, but – if I’m most pleased with anything after this one – it’s that we didn’t allow any goals. We got the shutout.”
Next up for the top-ranked Tigers, who remained unbeaten at 13-0-4, is fifth-seeded South Kingstown, which registered a mild, 3-1 upset at Portsmouth on Saturday night. The two foes will meet at 5:30 p.m., Thursday at East Greenwich High – for the right to attend the championship final at Rhode Island College next weekend.
“We played (the Rebels) the last week of the season, and we ended up winning, 4-2, but we fell behind 2-0 early on in that one,”
Silva recalled. “We’re created a bit of a rivalry over the past couple years; we’ve beaten them three times in a row, all of them at their place, so we’re expecting a very phsyical, intense match-up in the semifinal.”
As for NK, its campaign came to a tough close at 8-7-3 overall, though the Skippers did receive outstanding defensive play from juniors Jake Libutti, Caleb Wagner and Jake Froberg.
“I’m really happy with the effort; we kept battling, kept playing hard to the end,” noted head coach Paul Fanning. “All you can ask for is chances in a game like this, and I thought we had three or four very good opportunities to put one in.
“We created some chances and came close,” he continued. “I really thought that one goal would’ve put a lot of pressure on them and settled us down a bit. It would’ve got us rolling.”
Tolman’s first goal came in impressive fashion; actually, it was also on its initial shot of the game.
With just 10:11 elapsed, senior captain/defender Jason DeAmaral drilled a 50-yard free kick toward a host of players down by the left post, but junior forward Tiago DaCosta leaped above the fray and drove a header inside the
right post.
It appeared the Tigers would increase their lead exactly 6:30 later after senior standout Luis Blanco stole the ball on the right side numbers and fired an approximate 22-yard try at junior keeper Dan Kennedy, but that curled just outside the right post.
And, about six minutes after that, at the 22:33 mark, junior Juan Barrios sent a feed from the middle to the left hash, and twin brother Roy smoked it past Kennedy (nine stops) for the 2-0 cushion.
NK produced perhaps its finest sequence of the opening stanza with 12:24 remaining when Libutti crushed a 44-yard direct kick/high liner toward the cage, and junior Eddie Cardarelli jumped and headed it.
The only problem: It was right at sophomore tender Nelton Semedo (six saves).
The Skippers, however, started the second half in style. Only 59 ticks after the opening pass, Cardarelli tracked down a pass deep and knifed a tight shot from the deep right at net, yet Semedo made a terrfific sliding stop.
And, just 4:36 into it, Froberg whistled an 18-yarder at the crossbar, and it seemed destined to be under it, but Semedo again jumped at the last second to pluck it.
Finally, NK manufactured another fine opportunity that would have put the aforementioned pressure on the Tigers with 15:26 left in regulation. Freshman Ryan DeLessio accepted a pass deep down the right side, and he was wide open so roped a 20-yarder at the right post.
Just as the Skippers’ luck had been throughout the contest, it flew just wide of the post.
Solid defensive efforts came from Tiago DaCosta; DeAmaral; Roy and Juan Barrios; senior Rodrigo Gomes-Pinto; and senior Abraham Arbelaez.
“I’m not really happy about the fact we only scored two,” Silva offered later. “I thought we should have had more, but we missed our connections of were too sloppy. Then again, Luis (Blanco) played through a stomach bug, and I thought that showed.”
North Kingstown0 – 0 – 0
Tolman 2–0 –2
First half: T – Tiago DaCosta (Jason DeAmaral) 10:11; T – Roy Barrios (Juan Barrios) 22:33.
Second half: No scoring.
Shots on goal: North Kingstown 2-4 – 6, Tolman 6-5 – 11. Goalie saves: Dan Kennedy (NK) 9, Nelton Semedo (T) 6.