The No. 5 Cranston East girls lacrosse team would fall to host No. 5 East Providence 11-2 in the Division III Quarterfinals to see its season come to a close.

The Bolts’ defense would stifle the Townies in the first half and East would trail just 3-2 at the halftime break. East Providence came out hot in the second half, though, and would piece together an 8-0 run to roll to the semifinals.

Turnovers on offense and running out of steam on defense is what led to the Bolts slowing down in the second half, according to coach Howard Chun.

“The biggest difference was that in the first half, we kept the turnovers to a minimum and we had fresher legs. In the second half, we had too many turnovers and we started to gas. That made it look easier for (East Providence) to score. We just had too many turnovers and got tired, we got ahead of ourselves,” Chun said.

Kylie McCreavy and Lily Tillinghast would each score goals in the first half for the Bolts. East never led in the game.

East finished the regular season with a 4-5 record which was good for fifth place in the division. The Townies got an early season win this season over the Bolts and knocked them out of the playoffs last season as well.

East featured an inexperienced roster this season and Chun is optimistic for the returners next year as the program continues to rebuild.

“For the younger kids, this gives us something to build on. Situational awareness comes with experience. We were aggressive and quick and would pounce early in games, but teams figured us out pretty quick. We’d get the ball and not know what to do with it, especially early this season. That will come with experience. It’s about confidence, experience and knowing what to do,” said Chun.

Despite the early exit from the postseason, Chun was happy with his club’s performance in the quarterfinals and the progress it made throughout the spring.

“We’ll hold our chins up high after this game. The score doesn’t show it, but this was a good game. It was a great first half and the second half got away from us slowly. This year is something that they should be proud of,” said Chun. “How they played, how they communicated with each other. They grew.”