Clippers surprise Rebels
Cumberland bounces back with road win
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The rain held off until right after the conclusion of Thursday’s Division I showdown between Cumberland and South Kingstown. The same can be said for the Clippers defense, which held off the Rebels for a 1-0 win at Curtis Corner Middle School.
“This is a big win for us,” Clipper coach John Hoxsie said. “Coming off the loss to Coventry, going back [up against] a top team in the state right away, it’s definitely not easy. Very pleased with the win.”
Bella Luca scored the game-winner, a 13th minute free kick that loped its way into the back corner of the net, past All-State goalkeeper Faith Hutchins.
“It was a good ball,” said Hoxsie. “Found a corner.”
The Clipper defense was on duty from there. In the second half alone, SK had four free kicks and three corners. All were turned aside by goalie Juliette Vemmer and her defensive teammate, who played sweltering defense in the face of an attack-happy Rebel offense.
The Rebel onslaught started immediately in the final 40 minutes, and never truly relented. In the 78th minute, it took a hustle play from a Clipper defender to prevent an equalizing goal. t “That’s our captain, Abby Free,” Hoxsie said. “She’s our leader back there at center back. Our defense goes how she goes. She’s tdone a great job this year.” d Free came out of nowhere to slide tackle lSydni Vesterholm, who otherwise was on her nway to a 1-on-1 encounter with Vemmer in tnet.
“Our defense has been solid all year,” Hoxsie said. “We’ve given up three goals in eight fgames. Our defense, they do a fantastic job.”
“From the start, we were really good,” SK Ahead coach Scott Rollins said. “That goal nshouldn’t have rattled us that bad. It really —didn’t, we dominated the play. Just couldn’t tput it in the net. We have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to put a yball in the goal.”
Both teams entered with matching 6-1-0 records in D-I play. The level of play was as heady as expected, but possession favored the Rebels throughout. In total, the Clippers were tasked with stopping seven corner kicks.
Playing well back to protect their one-goal lead, the Clippers threw bodies into passing lanes and swept aside every threat with aplomb.
“When we play good teams, we’re always in that 0-0, 1-0 game,” Rollins said. “We have to figure out how to get out of that.”
The Clippers didn’t produce many chances on offense outside of Luca’s free kick strike. They had a corner in the first half, but were otherwise content hanging back and holding off the Rebel offense. SK’s Hutchins stopped seven of the eight shots she faced. Vemmer had eight total saves.
The Clippers move ahead of the Rebels in the standings with the big road win, into a tie for first place with North Kingstown (7-0-0, 21 points).
“It does a lot for our confidence,” Hoxsie said of the win. “We still have some tough teams left with Mt. Hope and Portsmouth, NK and LaSalle.
“It would have been tough going 0-2 this week, after a 6-0 start [to the season].”
“If we had to play them again, we know that we can compete with them,” Rollins said. “There are still some top teams left for us to play like LaSalle.”
SK lost to the Skippers, 3-2, and play the defending state champs on October 10. The Clippers will play 1-6 East Greenwich next Tuesday, and then will match up against La Salle on Friday.