'Canes leave shaky week behind in win over Titans

Posted 10/16/14

With the playoffs approaching, the Warwick Vets field hockey team wants to be playing its best.

Last week wasn’t it.

But Tuesday was pretty close.

After a tie with Tiverton and a loss to …

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'Canes leave shaky week behind in win over Titans

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With the playoffs approaching, the Warwick Vets field hockey team wants to be playing its best.

Last week wasn’t it.

But Tuesday was pretty close.

After a tie with Tiverton and a loss to Chariho last week – just their second loss of the season – the ’Canes rebounded with an 8-1 victory over Toll Gate on Tuesday afternoon.

“Last week, we just kind of struggled,” said Vets head coach Jim Areson. “We came out very flat. I was pleased how they responded today. They did what they needed to do. We definitely took care of business today.”

Vets improved to 9-2-1 and remained atop Division II-South, where it has a three-point edge on Chariho. Classical and Cumberland – who lead D-II-North at 12-1 and 10-2-1 – are the only teams in the division with a better record than the ’Canes.

Toll Gate dropped to 0-13 with Tuesday’s loss. Kelsey Holmes delivered a late goal for the Titans, but by then, the game was well out of reach.

The Titans played a close, one-goal game with Rocky Hill last week, and in their first meeting with the ’Canes early in the season, they stayed within three goals.

This time, the ’Canes just had too much, out-doing the three-goal margin by halftime and adding four more goals after the break. Maddie Axtmann finished with two goals and an assist, while Natasha Savage chipped in a goal and two assists. Seven different players scored as the ’Canes reached a season-high in goals. Despite their league-leading record, their previous high was three.

“I’m glad we exploded for the eight goals today,” Areson said. “We’ve created a lot of opportunities this year and to put eight in is great. We capitalized on the chances we had today and that was really good to see. You wouldn’t believe how many times a ball goes in front of the goal and nobody touches it. They were there and they got good touches today.”

Axtmann got Vets on the board eight minutes into the game, off an assist by Kayla Morin. Savage made it 2-0 less than a minute later, with Savannah Hersey assisting.

Twenty minutes in, Vets delivered another one-two punch. Axtmann chased down a long pass from Hersey and tipped a perfect centering pass to Morin, who knocked it in for the 3-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Brittany Boyd punched home a shot after a long lead pass by Savage.

The ’Canes carried the 4-0 lead into halftime and added to it quickly after the break. The ’Canes had three penalty corners in the first five minutes of the half and then put in three goals in a six-minute span. Axtmann had the first on a Hersey pass. Hersey scored four minutes later, with an assist to Savage. Megan Lemay scored on an unassisted goal two minutes after that on a scramble in front of the net.

Lexy Santos-Smith delivered the final Vets goal with 10 minutes left.

“We’re at that time of year where we really just want to start playing well, with intensity,” Areson said. “I tell them all the time, ‘If we out-work, out-hustle and out-want teams, we’re really good.’ Last week, we just didn’t. We were flat against Tiverton. Chariho, we gave up a goal and we didn’t come back. We played well today. Hopefully this well get them going.”

The Titans made a late push after Vets went up 8-0, getting two corners and missing just wide on a Taylor Spinard shot. With two minutes to go, Holmes corralled a rebound and blasted a one-timer into the cage to get the Titans on the board.

Sam Ventre made eight saves for Toll Gate before Brittney Ayotte took over in the second half and made five.

The Titans have three games remaining in the regular season, beginning with today’s match-up at Chariho. Next week, Toll Gate hosts South Kingstown and Pilgrim to close out the season.

Vets will have a sprint to the finish next week as it gears up to make a playoff run. The ’Canes play Rocky Hill on Monday, South Kingstown on Wednesday and Woonsocket on Thursday, before finishing the season at Pilgrim on Friday.

“You want to be peaking when the playoffs start and playing your best hockey of the year,” Areson said. “Hopefully, this gets them out of the little funk or whatever it was last week and kind of carries over. What I remind the girls is that we can beat anybody and anybody can beat us. That’s D-II in a nutshell right now. There’s no dominant team. There’s not a team we can’t beat and there’s not a team that can’t beat us, especially when the playoffs start. The margin of error is so small and that’s what I’ve been stressing to them.”

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