Knights topple Mounties
Fast start not enough in loss to EWG
WOONSOCKET — If the Mount St. Charles girls soccer team wants a shot at defending its Division II title, the young Mounties are going to have to grow up quickly in October.
The Mounties only picked up four points in their first seven games, but they appeared to have a chance to add to that total Thursday afternoon when junior Sophie Staelen took advantage of a goalkeeping error to open the scoring in the fifth minute against Exeter-West Greenwich.
And then the youthful mistakes that hurt the Mounties in their first four games of the season reappeared against a strong EWG outfit. Senior Jill Parenteau scored two goals in four minutes to give the Knights a lead they would never relinquish before Jill Craig took advantage of a defensive lapse in the final minute of the first half. The Knights scored twice in the second half to earn a 5-1 Division II win.
“Our inexperience showed today,” veteran Mount coach Phil Pincince said. “The speed around us, we couldn’t deal with it. We couldn’t think fast enough in the midfield in that first half – we got beat to every ball. So if one girl was aggressive, the rest were just watching. I was very honest with them and I told them at halftime that we played a snail’s pace, they did not. That’s why there’s such a discrepancy in the final score.”
Mount St. Charles (1-61 Division II) currently sits three points behind North Providence for the final playoff spot and the Mounties better take advantage of the first two weeks of October because the season ends with games against talented North Smithfield, Pilgrim and Chariho. Thursday, goalie Gabriella Hisoire made six saves.
Exeter-West Greenwich (4-2 Division II) appears on its way to a second straight solid season following three ugly campaigns in Division I. The Scarlet Knights received a pair of goals from Parenteau, while junior Emme Hart scored on a one-timer off a corner kick in the second half to stretch the lead out to three.
The Mounties, who Pincince said played well in Monday’s defeat to undefeated East Providence, wasted no time taking advantage of the Knights’ high defensive line. Staelen ran on to a long through ball and pressured goalie Abigail Barbon into a mistake. The Mountie then tapped the ball into the empty net.
And then the Knights went to work. First, Parenteau followed up a free kick that hit the Mount goal post and scored in the ninth to tie the contest. Four minutes later, the Scarlet Knight took advantage of a defensive mistake in the penalty box to give the road side a lead it would never relinquish.
“What was interesting – and I don’t know why it happened – we’re up 1-0 and then they make it 1-1,” Pincince said. “Then we started losing focus in the midfield and we started diving into challenges. If you dive in, the player gets by you and it’s a domino effect. That’s what lead to more issues. That’s just inexperience. I was very quiet and it’s because they have to learn from playing.”
The Mounties nearly made it until halftime trailing by just one, but Craig took advantage of more chaos in the Mount box to make it 3-1 in the 40th minute. The Scarlet Knights tagged on two more goals in the second half, including Hart’s superb goal at the far post following a perfect corner kick.
Mount is back home Friday afternoon to take on talented Westerly.
“There are just three starters [Delaney Green, Kylie Perron and Karissa Ciullo] who also started in last year’s final,” Pincince said. “When you think about that, there’s a big difference. We’re reloading right now.”