West sweeps City Cup

West lacrosse teams down rival East

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 5/18/16

It has been a difficult season for Cranston East's lacrosse squads, but both sides looked to at least salvage wins over their arch-rival, Cranston West in Saturday's City Cup. The Falcons were too much for the

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West sweeps City Cup

West lacrosse teams down rival East

Posted

It has been a difficult season for Cranston East’s lacrosse squads, but both sides looked to at least salvage wins over their arch-rival, Cranston West in Saturday’s City Cup.

The Falcons were too much for the ’Bolts, though, as they dropped both ends at Cranston Stadium, losing the boys’ contest 14-0 and the girls’ game 10-6. The Division III boys were outmatched, facing a Division II Cranston West squad with the state’s leader in saves, Tim Dillon, in net.

The girls, on the other hand, sought revenge against the Falcons after opening the D-III slate with a 10-8 defeat.

After East’s hot start, it looked like it may get it.

Just one minute and 15 seconds into the game, East’s Amanda Hay held the ball behind the net before circling around to the left side to put a shot past Grace Luker.

West responded well, though, as it would for most of the afternoon.

Rachael Beneduce knotted the score only 19 seconds later when she broke inside to slip the ball past the reach of Carina Gomes.

East would hop back in front six minutes later when captain Cheyenne Tillison found Marissa Nelson for her first goal of the game. The Falcons weren’t behind long, as their captain Grace Ohsberg got them on the scoreboard again 35 seconds later.

“We’ve had a tough season, lot of ups and downs,” West girls’ lacrosse head coach Michael Soscia said. “We’re fairly young. I give the girls a lot of credit. We’ve taken some lumps and we’ve played some real great teams, but they haven’t put their heads down once. It’s a testament to their personality to really work hard and keep on going.”

East took the momentum back a third time with nine minutes left in the first half and in commanding fashion. Sam Levy kept the ball in the back circle for a few seconds before passing to a leaping Hay in front of the net for a goal.

It would take a little longer for West to find its groove after that

goal, but it then hit its stride. Madeline Souza, who took home Ashley Signoriello Player of the Game honors for West, knotted the score at 3 with a laser at the 17:33 mark to kickstart the Falcons.

Jolie Rouleau was awarded a free shot just inside the last five

minutes of the half and converted, giving West its first lead of the afternoon. Beneduce found Ohsberg 17 seconds later for another score to provide some insurance.

Julia Fagundes sliced the deficit in half for the ’Bolts with a goal assisted by Levy, but the resilient Falcons bounced back once more.

Beneduce totaled her third point of the half when she was left

unmarked in front of Gomes and bumped the West lead to 6-4 heading into the intermission.

“It’s just West/East, no matter how badly we’re doing,” East girls’ lacrosse head coach Howard Chun said. “So we just come in here and say ‘All right, guys, we can do this one.’ They get frustrated and say, ‘Oh, I want to win this game so bad,’ and they take it all on themselves and forget about the whole idea that it’s a team. But they have all the skills.”

The second half opened with little fanfare as both teams struggled to score. Right out of the gates, Rouleau was fouled just as she sent a shot into the net. The goal was disallowed and she was awarded a free shot, which Gomes successfully stopped.

“She kept it a lot closer,” Chun said of Gomes, who made eight saves on the afternoon and was named East’s Player of the Game. “She had a great game.”

East’s Jessica Wong tried to find Levy in front of the net soon after, but the stalwart West defense broke the play up.

The ’Bolts would get on the board first courtesy of Nelson’s second goal, getting the ’Bolts within 1, but that would be the closest they got. The Falcons ripped off four unanswered goals in the next 10 minutes to shut down East’s comeback.

Rouleau got her free shot to go this time with 16:07 left to increase West’s lead back to two goals. A few minutes later, Gomes couldn’t corral a save and the loose ball made its way out to Souza, who collected it and scored to make it 8-5.

Rouleau would score twice more to complete her hat trick and then some, giving the Falcons a 10-5 lead with six minutes remaining.

“It wouldn’t have worked without the help of my other teammates,” Rouleau said of her second-half performance.

Nelson tallied the last goal of the game, securing a hat trick of her own with 3:14 to go, but the hole was too deep for East as West escaped with a 10-6 win.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Soscia said. “It’s fun for the girls. We

caught a beautiful day. I think the City Cup, regardless of the

record, winning the City Cup is just something nice that they’ll

always remember.”

On the boys’ side, East was able to stay within reach going into

halftime with just a 5-0 deficit. Four different players scored for

the Falcons in the first half, including a two-goal performance from senior captain Cam Bent.

“They always get up for playing the cross-town rivals,” West boys’ lacrosse head coach Jared Zimmer said. “I know they’re having a hard time this year, but they came out really strong this year. [East was] moving the ball really well, but I’ve got guys that always get up for this game.”

The ’Bolts’ defense came out stronger in the second half, keeping West off the board for the opening 12 minutes. However, Dillon was too difficult to solve between the pipes, and the Falcons’ offense eventually got to work.

Christian McDade notched his second score of the game when he uncorked a shot from 10 yards out to give West a 6-0 lead. That kicked off a three-goal spurt in the next 42 seconds that effectively put the game out of reach, giving the Falcons an 8-0 advantage.

West added six more from as many different players in the fourth quarter, most notably senior captain Zach French. The defenseman joined the attack and cut the edge for a goal in the opening minutes.

“I haven’t had a goal all season and I got on attack and scored,”

French said. “It was just an amazing feeling to go out there and do that.”

West (4-9) holds the seventh-best record in Division II with one game left to play, Thursday at 4 p.m. at Coventry. The Falcons are in position for a postseason spot with at least a top-8 spot in Division II secured.

The girls are also fighting for the last playoff spot in Division III.

At 2-10, the Falcons are tied with Tiverton for the final postseason slot with one game left. The Tigers have to face undefeated South Kingstown, while West has an easier matchup with 5-5 Smithfield.

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