Titans tripped up after opening romp

Posted 9/9/14

The Toll Gate girls’ soccer team started its season with a bang last Tuesday when it lit up Chariho for nine goals in a 9-5 victory. The Titans weren’t happy about giving up five, but scoring …

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Titans tripped up after opening romp

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The Toll Gate girls’ soccer team started its season with a bang last Tuesday when it lit up Chariho for nine goals in a 9-5 victory. The Titans weren’t happy about giving up five, but scoring nine certainly made up for it.

On Thursday, the Titans allowed five goals again.

And they didn’t come close to scoring nine.

Coventry, who like Toll Gate is down to Division II from D-I this season, raced past the Titans 5-1 on Thursday night at the Bend Street Soccer Complex.

“It’s not going to be as easy as it was the other night for us,” said Toll Gate head coach Lonna Razza. “Just some defensive breakdowns, pretty much the same thing that happened against Chariho. We gave up five goals Tuesday, we just had the offense.”

The first week tally still doesn’t look too bad for the Titans. They’ve scored 10 goals, second-most in all of Division II, and are sitting at 1-1. The offensive explosion against Chariho was an impressive one, with Hannah McNulty scoring four goals, Lily Fortin netting three and Marisa Giard scoring two.

“We have the offensive talent,” Razza said. “Jordan [Inkley] is putting free kicks on the far post, our corners are right there, Hannah and Nicole Patricio can use their heads on corners. It’s there.”

On Thursday, though, the Titans couldn’t keep things rolling, thanks in large part to Coventry. The Oakers put the clamps on McNulty, and goalie Alyssa Derrick handled most of the Titans’ chances. At the other end, Coventry’s strikers did a lot of damage. Amanda Egan scored three goals and Katie Beaudoin scored two.

“They’ve got a good team,” Razza said. “They’ve got 11 seniors and I know full well they didn’t want to move to Division II. I don’t know much about the competition in this division yet, but I know Coventry is a good team.”

The game was scoreless and the action was back-and-forth until the 26th minute, when Beaudoin corralled the ball after a Toll Gate turnover and ended up one-on-one with goalie Amber Francois. She juked past Francois and knocked the ball into the net to make it 1-0.

Just a minute later, Beaudoin got free again on a through pass by Ashlee Guilmette. Her shot to the left corner of the net made it 2-0.

Toll Gate had a golden opportunity of its own in the 31st minute, when McNulty slipped a short pass to Grace McGrath in the 6-yard box. McGrath put a shot on net, but Derrick made a diving save.

The score remained 2-0 into the second half, when the Oakers started running free again. Egan got behind the defense twice for goals in the 45th and 46th minutes.

“I knew coming in,” Razza said. “I told the kids, ‘They’re a physical team.’ They’ve got the two up top and a great goalie. The goalie’s going to make a save, take a punt or a goal kick, shoot it up to them and let them run onto it.”

The Titans finally got on the board in the 69th minute, when McNulty settled a free kick by Inkley in the box and muscled it past Derrick to make it 4-1. But Egan answered just seven minutes later on another breakaway.

The Titans could get nothing else.

“With the talent we have, we should be scoring more than one goal,” Razza said. “They know Hannah. They were double-teaming her, they were closing in on her and frustrating her a little bit. We had opportunities but couldn’t finish. It’ll come along.”

The Titans were frustrated by the big swing from Tuesday’s game to Thursday’s. Razza wanted them to stay on an even keel and understand that the truth about their team lies somewhere in the middle of the polar opposite games.

“They get a little worked up and you have to reel them in,” Razza said. “They get frustrated and then everything’s fast. We just have to keep them relaxed – just play soccer.”

The Titans were set to be back in action Monday at Moses Brown, with results unavailable at press time.

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