Pride too much for Patriots

BVP back on track after 2 straight losses

LINCOLN – Blackstone Valley Prep senior captain Sole Miranda knew how critical it was for her Pride to produce a solid outing when it faced Davies Tech on Monday afternoon.

After all, BVP had opened its season with two straight wins, both via shutout, before two disastrous defeats to Classical and Cranston East last week.

In those, they yielded a whopping 12 goals while scoring a scant two.

“We had to get back on track,” Miranda stated.

Thanks in part to her, the Pride did just that. Miranda broke halftime dedlock and scored what proved to be the game-winner less than six minutes into the second half, not to mention the insurance tally, to lift BVP to a 3-2 Division III triumph.

“It was very important for us to win after two straight losses,” Miranda said. “We needed to regain our confidence, and I thought we did that here. Coach (Steve DaRosa) had told us beforehand that we needed to communicate, play our positions and not all over the place and hustle.

“In our two losses, I don’t think it was a matter of doing anything wrong because (Classical and Cranston East) are very good teams,” she

added. “I do think we worked harder (Monday) and played more as a team.”

Offered DaRosa, who happened to graduate from Davies back in 2005: “We weren’t pleased during those two losses, so this was more about the positioning of the players, where they should be at certain times as opposed to not being there. I did change the formation, so that helped a little bit. I wanted to strengthen our midfield.

“Then again, we’ve also had some injuries, so we didn’t have a choice but to move some people around,” he added. “The keys to this

one? We started off pretty flat, and that’s what I talked to the kids about at halftime. I didn’t see much desire, hunger and passion to go after the ball, and I wanted them to find it deep inside each one of them.

As DaRosa noted, the Pride appeared lackadaisical in the early moments of the opening stanza, and that’s one reason why Davies’ senior co-captain Ivelisse Martinez converted a pass from classmate Brenna Williams with only 3:37 elapsed in the contest.

Eventually, BVP’s enthusiasm began to show, as sophomore O’Livia Lopes knocked

home a feed from senior tri-captain Victoria Jakubiak to tie it up with 18:05 remaining before the break.

The Pride continued to control the time of possession and field position early in the final session, and actually took the 2-1 advantage when Miranda planted an approximate 22-yard seed off of Tech senior keeper Alaynah Rubio’s hands with only 5:34 elapsed.

Less than five minutes later, with 29:45 remaining in regulation, Miranda stole the ball deep down the right side of the field, hustled in, sidestepped a would-be defender and drilled a try inside the right post for the 3-1 cushion.

Martinez did notch another unassisted score with 2:33 left in regulation, thanks in part to a terrific long-distance punt from Rubio, but it wasn’t enough.

Those exhibiting stellar defense for BVP included senior Kaylee Alvarez and sophomores Ashley Zambrano, Lucy Noris and Samantha Munera-Goez.

Among those for the Pats: Senior Paola Hernandez, sophomores Victoria Delacruz and Mareme Samate; and Williams.

“We were off (Monday), and I wish I knew why; I will say that it will be addressed (today) in practice,” sighed Davies’ head coach Sue Brassard, whose squad fell to 2-10 overall. “It’s crazy because we had been playing really well; we just didn’t play our game here.

“Don’t take anything away from BVP, they played well, but we just didn’t come ready to play.”

Blackstone Valley Prep1 – 2 –3 Davies Tech 1–1 –2 First half: DT – Ivelisse Martinez ( Brenna Williams) 3:37; BVP – O’Livia Lopes (Victoria Jakubiak) 21:55.

Second half: BVP – Sole Miranda (una.) 45:34; BVP – Miranda (una.) 50:15; DT – Martinez (una.) 77:27.