Still Even

Separated by one point in standings, Titans and Pats play to 1-1 draw

William Geoghegan
Posted 10/7/14

They waited a long time for a meeting like this, in league play, with both teams as contenders.

And they’ll have to wait a little longer for any separation.

The Toll Gate and Pilgrim …

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Still Even

Separated by one point in standings, Titans and Pats play to 1-1 draw

Posted

They waited a long time for a meeting like this, in league play, with both teams as contenders.

And they’ll have to wait a little longer for any separation.

The Toll Gate and Pilgrim girls’ soccer teams came into Thursday’s game at the Bend Street Soccer Complex separated by just a point in the standings, and they stayed that way after 80 hard-fought minutes. Molly Lynch’s second-half goal gave Pilgrim a 1-0 lead, Hannah McNulty’s answer evened the score, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

“This is 100 percent what you’d expect,” said Pilgrim head coach Tom Flanders. “Regardless of what the records are, when two teams like this get together, it’s going to be a battle, there’s going to be excitement. I thought both teams played fantastic. The effort level and the intensity from both teams was ridiculous.”

The match-up was the first league game between the teams since 2005, the last year Pilgrim was in Division I. The Titans have joined the Pats in Division II this year.

Toll Gate improved to 6-2-3 while Pilgrim moved to 6-2-2. The Titans remained a point ahead of Pilgrim for first place in the Division II-South standings. The rivals have the fourth and fifth-best records in all of D-II.

“I’m so proud of these girls right now, and how hard they fought,” said Toll Gate head coach Lonna Razza. “They played an awesome game. It was a good cross-city battle that I haven’t seen in years.”

In addition to their proximity in the standings, the Titans and Pats have both scored 35 goals this season, tying them for second in Division II. Their lineups also boast the state’s top scorers in Toll Gate’s McNulty and Pilgrim’s Katelyn Vieira.

But from the get-go on Thursday, defense was carried the day.

The Titans’ unit led by Jordan Inkley, Kyleigh Maletesta, Nicole Krause and April Wolstenholme put the clamps on a Pilgrim attack that was coming off a week in which it scored 17 goals in five games. Goalie Amber Francois made seven saves.

“Our defense was unbelievable,” Razza said. “We had one mishap. They’re a good team so of course they capitalized. That was the one mistake. They were great.”

Vieira had a handful of looks, but Inkley and Maletesta were consistently stride-for-stride with her.

“We had a little chalk talk about our approach,” Razza said. “She’s a great athlete and a great player. We just had to contain her.”

On the other side, Pilgrim’s back four – Sophia DeLuca, Erin Plowman, Emily Fluette and Haley Buco – did their job as well, in front of goalie Hannah Page, who made eight saves.

After a scoreless first half, Pilgrim got on the board in the 47th minute. Kendra Tantimonico made a diagonal pass from the right wing to the left. Lynch had a step on the defense, tracked down the ball, carried it into the box and knocked it past a charging Francois for the 1-0 lead.

Just seven minutes later, Toll Gate answered. McNulty chased down a ball in the corner. Five yards away from the box, close to the goal line and with a defender on her hip, she didn’t look like much of a threat, but she turned from there and fired a high-arcing ball toward the goal. It soared over Page and bent just inside the far post.

It was McNulty’s state-best 21st goal of the season – and perhaps the prettiest.

“I almost jumped out of my shoes,” Razza said. “She’s just got that finesse on the ball. She knows how to touch it the right way and bend it. She’s fun to watch.”

The Pats could only tip their cap.

“Even on the goal, I said to Haley Buco, ‘Clap for her. What else can you do?’” Flanders said. “She’s probably one of only a few kids in the state of Rhode Island who could hit that from there, and that’s not luck. She has the skill to do that. If that’s the only sniff at goal that you gave her, then I’m proud of you. The back four played great.”

Both teams mounted a few threats after the equalizer but came up empty. Francois just barely won a race with Pilgrim’s Emma Manosh on a perfect through ball, making the stop at the top of the box. Marisa Giard lofted a cross to the box for the Titans a few minutes later, but McNulty’s header went wide left. Later, Page punched out a cross then corralled the rebound before McNulty could get a foot on it.

Pilgrim had a corner kick in the final minute, but Toll Gate made one final clear to end the game.

Both sides would have liked a win, but neither was complaining.

“I think that was probably the proper result of that game,” Flanders said. “Both teams really wanted to win and they played like it. It wasn’t like one team dominated and hit the post four times. I thought it was a good, up-and-down game with the proper result.”

Pilgrim was set to be back in action Monday with another rivalry game at Warwick Vets. Results were unavailable at press time.

“We’ll take a couple of days off and then it’s Vets on Monday,” Flanders said. “It’s city rivalry week. We’ll see what we can do with them, and try to build some momentum. We kept pace with Toll Gate today. It was good for everybody.”

Toll Gate will host Tiverton on Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Razza wants her team to use Thursday’s blueprint in that one, and from here on out.

“I told them I expect nothing but this going forward,” Razza said. “Now we’re into playing these teams in our division twice. They’ve got to come out just like this from now on.”

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