Finally back in action, Titans rally for victory

Posted 4/22/14

The Toll Gate lacrosse team opened its season on April 3. A few ill-timed rainy days kept the Titans from taking the field for their second game until Friday, 15 days later.

There was some rust, …

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Finally back in action, Titans rally for victory

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The Toll Gate lacrosse team opened its season on April 3. A few ill-timed rainy days kept the Titans from taking the field for their second game until Friday, 15 days later.

There was some rust, but ultimately, it was worth the wait.

After falling behind 3-1 against visiting Chariho, the Titans shook off that rust and out-scored the Chargers 11-1 the rest of the way en route to a 12-4 victory.

The Titans are 2-0.

“We hadn’t played in two weeks,” said Toll Gate head coach Mike Vadney. “We had a lot of rust. You can only do so much in practice. It was nice to actually get out onto the field and get into a rhythm. It was a rough start, but a much better finish.”

Toll Gate had opened the season with a 7-6 victory over Cranston East. The ensuing gap was one of the strangest schedule quirks Vadney has been a part of in his time at the helm. The Titans had three games postponed due to weather and seemed to be more unlucky in that department than any team in Division III. Seven teams have already played five games to this point. Other than the Titans, no one has played fewer than three.

“The Chariho coach said, ‘We’ve only had two games,’ and I said, ‘Well, you’ve had more than us,’” Vadney said. “It’s just been a very strange start to the season.”

The challenges of that start carried into Friday’s game. The Titans struggled to maintain possession in the early going and gave up a pair of goals 25 seconds apart early in the first quarter. Andrew Zelano broke through for the Titans to make it 2-1, but the Chargers got a goal from Mitch Renner with eight seconds left in the period and carried the 3-1 lead into the second.

“It was just a dead start,” Vadney said. “End of the first quarter, we talked. They had a lousy practice yesterday and I told them, ‘You practice like you play and it shows.’ I give them credit – they really pulled it out. Even Chariho’s coach said, ‘Your boys have a lot of heart.’ They really showed that today.”

Anthony Ottone started the comeback when he streaked in front of the crease, took a pass from Zelano and buried a shot to make it 3-2 just 32 seconds into the second period.

That sparked a steady period from the Titans, who controlled possession and added two more goals to grab their first lead. Ottone scored again with 4:45 left and Jack Sullivan gave the Titans the 4-3 lead with 4:28 left off a pass from Jake Moran.

“Once we got the momentum going, it kept on going uphill from there,” Zelano said. “It was nice.”

Ottone scored his third goal of the game just over two minutes into the third quarter on an assist from Will Patenaude. Zelano made it 6-3 later in the period. Renner got the Chargers back within two less than a minute later, but they wouldn’t score again.

And the Titans sprinted away. Zelano had three more goals, Sullivan had two more and Billy Meehan had one as Toll Gate cruised to the 12-4 win.

“A couple of guys stepped up huge,” Vadney said. “Andrew Zelano five goals, Anthony Ottone was always getting shots, Jack Sullivan, it was good to see him find the pipes. These guys did very well today.”

Zelano finished with five goals and an assist, while Sullivan and Ottone had three goals and one assist apiece. Patenaude had two assists and Moran had one.

“We’ve been having trouble setting up the offense, we haven’t had a lot of practice because of the weather, but we put it together today,” Zelano said.

While the offensive resurgence was a welcome sight, the Titans saw plenty of positives at the other end of the field, too. Defenders Joe Mercurio, Nick Brown and Dave Stachurski led a strong effort in front of senior goalie Jackson Burgos, who was making his first career start in net. After saving 18 shots, it’s a safe bet he’ll be making another start.

“He stepped up huge,” Vadney said. “Two days ago, he was a starting defenseman. We lost our goalie and Jackson volunteered to go between the pipes. An athlete is an athlete and he showed it today. I think he let a couple of soft ones in early but then he got the hang of it. It was tough to lose him on the long pole but Nick Brown stepped in huge. We’re a little short there but they’ve got each other’s backs.”

Though they’ve played significantly fewer games, the Titans are one of only two unbeaten teams left in the typically wide open Division III. Tiverton/Rogers is in first place at 5-0 and three teams are 4-1.

The Titans are hoping to get into a rhythm as their schedule picks back up. They’ll host three-time defending D-III champ Smithfield today at 3:30 p.m. The Sentinels were riding a three-year unbeaten streak before Westerly edged them 6-5 on Friday.

“We have Smithfield Tuesday and they’re always tough,” Vadney said. “Then we have Lincoln the next day, and they were a tough team last year. It’s Division III, so you just don’t know.”

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