Falcons take rivalry tilt

Posted 4/17/14

The Cranston West boys’ lacrosse team has followed a similar pattern in all its wins this season – a pattern it hopes will soon come to a halt.

The Falcons are 3-1, winners of three straight …

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Falcons take rivalry tilt

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The Cranston West boys’ lacrosse team has followed a similar pattern in all its wins this season – a pattern it hopes will soon come to a halt.

The Falcons are 3-1, winners of three straight after a 10-2 victory over Cranston East on Monday. But in all of its wins, West has started hot, slowed down in the middle two quarters and then been forced to pick it back up again in the fourth.

More consistency is the key if West wants to contend with some of the top teams in Division III.

“We’re getting up on teams really early, but the problem is that when we get up on them, we get complacent,” said West head coach Jared Zimmer. “We tend to think that the game is over. In the second and third quarter we go dry and we’ve got to pick it back up in the fourth quarter.”

The game against the ’Bolts was a classic example. West went up 4-0 in the first quarter, but led only 5-2 at halftime. It led 6-2 entering the fourth quarter before putting the game away with four goals.

“That’s not the way to be there at the end, with what we’re shooting for,” Zimmer said.

Still, West is tied for third in D-III, trailing only unbeatens Tiverton/Rogers and Smithfield.

“We can do some great things,” Zimmer said.

East, which fell to 1-3 with the loss, is in a slightly different boat. It’s happy with the way things have gone thus far for the most part, although Monday was not one of its better performances.

Still, with a young, inexperienced team, the ’Bolts are pleased to be competing. They have a one-goal loss to Toll Gate on their resume and a 10-9, double-overtime victory over Lincoln last week.

“I think if we compete, we have a lot of athletes,” said East head coach Jim Creamer. “If we compete hard and don’t kill ourselves with unforced errors we’ll be alright.”

The Lincoln win was one of the top moments in the brief history of the program. Dan Cornelio scored five times, and Austin Yeatman scored the game-winning goal in overtime

“It was very exciting,” Creamer said. “The field was muddy. It was probably good for us.”

Against West, the ’Bolts got a goal apiece from Mike Vannini and Mike Rodriguez, while Dale Rodriguez made eight saves in net.

West was led by Trent Colford’s three goals and two apiece from Jared Tirocchi and Matt Pagnozzi. Camren Bent, Joey DelMastro and Brandon Langley had one each. Bent and Erik Thompson added assists.

In goal, Michael Pierce made five saves.

“I can’t complain about a 10-2 win,” Zimmer said. “It’s so easy to get too pumped up for East that you don’t do the things that you need to do against any team to win ball games. It’s the same story for the season. Luckily, we’re coming out hot. We get up on teams early.”

The Falcons have played only one team with a winning record – Tiverton – and they lost that game 13-7 to open the season.

Going forward, even with the 3-1 mark, they know they need to play better. West has been heavily penalized, as well as routinely having the lulls in the middle quarters.

“Playing smart,” Zimmer said. “Not hurting ourselves. Not doing stupid penalties like offsides. Things like that. Once we get a lead we can’t forget the basics.”

Zimmer did highlight Bent, Colford, Pagnozzi, DelMastro, Tirocchi and Tom Paliotte as a few players who have stepped up so far.

The Falcons were scheduled to travel to Chariho on Wednesday, with the results unavailable at press time. Next Wednesday, they will host Westerly at 4 p.m. Both Westerly and Chariho are winless.

East was scheduled to host Coventry on Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time. That figures to be a tough game, but the ’Bolts will get a potentially winnable game next Wednesday when they travel to North Providence for a 6 p.m. game. North Providence is winless and in its first year as a program.

“We have West and Coventry this week, two good teams,” Creamer said. “Then after that I think we have a little bit of a break from the league and play some teams we can be a little more competitive with. There are some teams that are a little more on our level.”

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