‘Canes continue hot start, edge rival Pats

Matt Metcalf
Posted 9/15/15

It seems as if the Warwick Vets field hockey team is going to make the most of its final season.

The ‘Canes defeated their second cross-town rival in less than a week on Wednesday afternoon, …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

‘Canes continue hot start, edge rival Pats

Posted

It seems as if the Warwick Vets field hockey team is going to make the most of its final season.

The ‘Canes defeated their second cross-town rival in less than a week on Wednesday afternoon, netting a goal in each half to upend Pilgrim, 2-0.

Vets handled Toll Gate by the same margin on Sept. 3.

There’s a lot of season left, but the ‘Canes are certainly trending in the right direction early.

“If you told me that we were going to start the season 2-0, I definitely would’ve taken it,” Vets head coach Jim Areson said. “I’m very happy, very pleased. We graduated 10 seniors, and the kids that have stepped in have done a phenomenal job.”

Wednesday’s contest unfolded in a similar way that Vets’ game against Toll Gate did. The ‘Canes did a good job defensively to keep Pilgrim to the outside and limit scoring opportunities while making good on theirs.

But although Vets found the back of the cage twice, its offensive chances were few and far between.

That’s something that Areson would like to see altered a bit going forward.

“I would’ve really liked to see more offense from us,” Areson said. “I think we had something like four shots on goal, so there’s still a lot to work on.”

However, the ‘Canes came up with a timely goal midway through the first half to break a scoreless tie.

Off of a Vets corner, Natasha Savage sent a shot towards the net that ricocheted onto the stick of Arietta Chevian, who deposited a shot past Pilgrim’s Abigail Nurse to make it a 1-0 game.

And that’s how the first half came to a close.

In that first frame, Vets dominated time of possession, as Pilgrim was fortunate to make it into the break with a miniscule one-goal deficit.

But in the second half, it was a different story.

The Pats were not only able to generate some possession time, but some scoring chances as well.

Pilgrim head coach Stephanie Shields noticed a significant improvement in her team’s play from half to half.

“We had a lot more possession and a lot more opportunities in front of the goal,” Shields said of her squad’s second-half play.

Vets’ defense stood tall, though, allowing its offense to strike again early on in the second half.

A shot through traffic found Nicole Procaccini behind the netminder, as she made no mistake in scoring her first high school goal to give Vets a 2-0 lead.

Areson is pleased with how his standout freshman is coming along early in the season.

“It’s quite impressive what she’s doing as a first-year varsity player,” Areson said of Procaccini. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she scored seven to 10 goals this year. She has a good stick and she’s conditioned. She’s been a pleasant surprise.”

Following Vets’ second goal, Pilgrim pressed to cut its deficit in half, but failed to encounter twine.

“Obviously we can’t win if we can’t put the ball in the net,” Shields said. “We definitely have a lot to work on, we’re very young.”

One experienced player that Pilgrim will lean on for production this season in Paula Cavanagh.

The junior captain was around the ball all game, but the ‘Canes were able to key on her and minimize her playmaking ability.

“Paula is a very good player,” Areson said. “I told the girls at halftime ‘Don’t let Paula beat us. Anyone else can beat us. But don’t let her.’ Natasha did a very good job on her. And collectively, I thought everyone did a good job. They were very aware of where she was.”

The loss dropped the Pats to 0-2 in Division II-South. They would then fall to Chariho, 2-0, on Friday to drop to 0-3. They’ll try to improve game by game after losing some key veterans from last year’s team.

“We have a lot of sophomores this year,” Shields said. “At any time, half of the players we have out there are sophomores. We don’t have much varsity experience, whatsoever, because we had a lot of upperclassmen last year. So we are very young and are looking to improve throughout the season.”

The Pats will return to action today when they take on Toll Gate at CCRI’s Knight Campus at 3:45 p.m.

As for Vets, it moved to 3-0 with a 1-0 win over Rocky Hill on Friday.

The ‘Canes will look to protect their unbeaten record today when they travel to South Kingstown for a 3:45 p.m. start.

“We don’t talk about it,” Areson responded when asked about this being his team’s last season. “Our goal is to win the division this season.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here