Titans roar back, come up a goal short against Oakers

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 11/11/14

One of the most successful seasons that the Toll Gate girls’ soccer program has seen in quite some time came to a shrieking halt on Wednesday night.

After giving top-seeded Coventry High School …

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Titans roar back, come up a goal short against Oakers

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One of the most successful seasons that the Toll Gate girls’ soccer program has seen in quite some time came to a shrieking halt on Wednesday night.

After giving top-seeded Coventry High School all it could handle, Toll Gate’s near upset bid fell short, as Katie Beaudoin floated a shot over Amber Francois with 15 minutes remaining to lift the Oakers into the Division II state championship with a 3-2 win.

Even though the Lady Titans were technically the underdogs, they put themselves in a great position to win the game. After falling in a 2-0 hole early, two goals by senior striker Hannah McNulty, one at the end of the first half and another just over 10 minutes into the second half, tied the game 2-2 and gave Toll Gate all of the momentum.

Unfortunately for the Lady Titans, Beaudoin was able to net the deciding goal down the stretch on a tremendous individual effort.

After a hard fought battle, the result was devastating for a senior-heavy Toll Gate team.

“They battled,” said Toll Gate head coach Lonna Razza. “For them to come back and tie it 2-2 after being down 2-0, you have to give them that much. They never gave up.”

It didn’t look good for the Lady Titans early on. Coventry’s Amanda Egan capitalized on an Oakers’ corner kick less than three minutes into the game, as the senior captain volleyed a shot into the back of the net, giving her team a 1-0 lead.

After Francois made a series of saves in the early stages of the first half to keep the Lady Titans in the game, Natalia Angelone was finally able to up Coventry’s lead. The midfielder collected a loose ball outside of the box and fired a long-range shot that just snuck over the outstretched arms of Francois to make it 2-0.

The Lady Titans weren’t willing to go away quietly though. Toll Gate pushed back with a great response after Coventry’s second goal. At the 7:27 mark, Grace McGrath connected with McNulty on an impressive through ball, and McNulty overpowered Coventry keeper Alyssa Derrick with a shot from the right side, cutting Toll Gate’s deficit to 2-1.

Razza was happy with her team’s lack of willingness to throw in the towel.

“In the past, we’ve just given up,” Razza said. “I kept telling them this year that when you’re down, you just have to keep fighting and keep fighting. That’s what they did.”

Toll Gate’s momentum carried over into the second half. With 28:40 to go, McGrath took a Toll Gate corner kick that found a wide-open McNulty, who buried the ball into an empty net to tie the game, 2-2.

McNulty, who was a First-Team All-Division I selection in 2013, was clearly the best player on the field, scoring two goals and remaining a threat to score at any time throughout the entirety of the game.

“She’s [got finesse] Razza said. “She’s just fun to watch. All of the girls played awesome though, you can’t just single one out. It’s a team sport.”

Toll Gate’s unlikely comeback was spoiled, however, when Egan and Beaudoin executed a series of near-perfect passes on a two-on-one, resulting in Beaudoin floating a shot over Francois to give Coventry the 3-2 win.

Even though the loss is certainly tough to swallow, the Lady Titans’ achieved a great deal of success this year, much more than they’ve encountered over the last few seasons. After struggling to compete at the Division I level, the Lady Titans dropped down and fell a bounce shy of clinching a date with intra-city nemesis, Pilgrim, for a Division II state championship.

“We made it further than we have in a long time,” Razza said. “We weren’t really competing in Division I and we were able to compete this year. Tonight was a hard fought battle. They should be proud for coming as far as they did and playing Coventry as well as they did. I couldn’t be more proud of them as I am right now”

It certainly was a resurgent season for the Lady Titans, but it was one that undoubtedly had a bittersweet ending.

“It was definitely a successful season,” Razza said. “Certainly disappointing because we would’ve liked to be playing on Saturday, but obviously overall it was a very impressive season.”

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