MSC still winless
The defending Division II champion Mount girls soccer team dropped a 5- 0Division II decision to West Warwick
WEST WARWICK — It was bound to happen sooner or later. The 2019 season, one that has gotten off to a disappointingly slow start for the West Warwick girls soccer team, took a turn for the better on Thursday afternoon following a 5-0 rout over defending Division II champion Mount St. Charles.
Senior Berenice Saucedo and sophomore Jillian D’Ambrosca each netted a pair of goals in the win, with the fifth score going to junior Jazlyn Estrella, helping West Warwick improve to 1-2-1.
“We finally found a team to beat. Sorry to say, but we need it sometimes,” coach Daniel Lima said of his team’s victory over a rebuilding Mounties squad. Mount ended West Warwick’s 2018 with a preliminary round victory, but a much different looking squad came to play on Thursday afternoon, one that the Wizards were able to take advantage of.
“It was not what we expected from last year,” said Lima. “We thought we were going to have a little more competition, but we’ll take it because we have a tough week coming up next week and we needed this nice win here.”
D’Ambrosca broke the scoreless tie in the 13th minute with her first of two goals on the day, this one assisted by midfielder Kaity Cabrejos.
Saucedo was responsible for the home team’s next two goals with the first coming in the 26th minute on a Hannah Fox assist as the Wizards took a comfortable 2-0 lead with them into the half.
Just 20 seconds into the second half, Saucedo made it 3-0 on a header, with Estrella doing the same some eight minutes later to up the lead to 4-0.
“We did some nice combinations, nice passing and we took some shots from far away and close. We scored two goals on a header, so we’ll take it. Anytime we can score goals (via a header), it’s huge for us,” Lima said.
D’Ambrosca netted the final goal of the day in the
73rd minute on a shot assisted by Jenna Pizzi, putting a stamp on a day that belonged entirely to the home team.
As Lima alluded to after Thursday’s win, the Wizards have a busy stretch of play coming up as they are set to play three times in a fourday span, starting with a road game against North Providence Monday.
As for the Mounties (0-4 D-II), Thursday’s contest was just the latest in an ongoing plan to rebuild just a year after making it to the playoffs.
“We’re reloading,” Mount coach Phil Pincince said. “You have to understand, from last year’s team, we have three starters. We have 14 new players.”
Mount managed just a handful of shots on goal all day, with just two of them coming in the first half as West Warwick spent the majority of time on offense, generating opportunities for themselves. Still, Pincince liked what he saw despite his club getting shutout for the third time in four games this year.
“I was pleased. There were some really positive things out there today,” he said, noting that he is still trying to find the best combination of players to put out on the field. I’m moving players around. Everyone’s going in a different position so they’re going to be able to do more down the road,” he said.
Ultimately, it comes down to experience, a feature last season’s club had and this season’s squad needs to gain.
“Last year we had 10 seniors. This year, we only have two seniors and 14 new players,” Princince pointed out.
Though the wins have yet to arrive, he remains encouraged by the effort his players give him on a daily basis.
“I’m comfortable, they’re fine, they work hard for me. We’ll take little steps,” he said. “West Warwick did a nice job putting the ball in the back of the net. They did what they needed to do, so congrats to them.”
The Mounties return to action next Monday when they host Westerly at 3:45 p.m.