Vets soccer drops back to .500 with loss to Novans

William Geoghegan
Posted 10/14/14

After a 3-1 win over Tiverton, the Warwick Vets boys’ soccer team had a full week off to prep for a stretch run that includes games against four of the top six teams in Division III.

It did not …

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Vets soccer drops back to .500 with loss to Novans

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After a 3-1 win over Tiverton, the Warwick Vets boys’ soccer team had a full week off to prep for a stretch run that includes games against four of the top six teams in Division III.

It did not start the way the Hurricanes were hoping.

Hosting second-place Woonsocket on Friday afternoon, the ’Canes stayed within striking distance after giving up an early goal but faded in the second half as injuries – and quality chances for the Villa Novans – piled up. The result was a 3-0 loss that dropped Vets to 5-5 on the year. Woonsocket improved to 8-1-1.

“Woonsocket is a good team,” said Vets head coach Mike Kenney. “They’re a D-I team who dropped down to D-III this year, so they’re used to playing at a different speed. We were having trouble keeping up to that speed. We gave up a goofy goal in the first half. We stayed with them. Second half, we had breakdowns, injuries, had to shuffle the lineup. It wasn’t helping.”

The loss was Vets’ fourth in its last five games. That stretch is the exact opposite of the team’s first five games, of which it won four. Injuries have contributed, especially since the ’Canes aren’t deep to begin with, but schedule strength has also been a factor. All of Vets’ victories have come against teams that are below them in the standings. Against the teams above them, the ’Canes have played tough – the 3-0 loss Friday was their largest margin of defeat and they’ve had three one-goal losses – but they haven’t been able to knock anybody off.

“I figured we’d be in the middle of the pack and that’s where we are,” Kenney said. “We’ve lost some games that I thought we should have been in more. There are a couple that I wish we could get back.”

One-goal losses to Providence Country Day, Scituate and Ponaganset stick out as the ones that got away.

Friday’s game did not make that list.

Woonsocket took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. Ibrahima Fall carried the ball deep into the box, drawing Vets goalie Ryan Costa toward the left post. Costa dove for the ball and couldn’t corral it. With Fall, Costa and another Vets defender on the ground, PaOusman Jobe cleaned up the mess, lobbing a shot just over Costa and into the net.

It was a goal the ’Canes could live with, and they didn’t allow another for the rest of the half, even as the Novans applied consistent pressure.

The ’Canes got pressure of their own. In the 10th minute, Andrew Falaguerra blocked a hard Woonsocket clearing pass with his body near the edge of the box and the deflection almost carried back into the net. Later, Sebastian Rasmussen set up Josiah Enos for a shot at the top of the box, but his one-timer sailed wide. Just before halftime, Dan Lobato muscled a shot in traffic on the right side, but it hit the outside of the net. Just seconds later, Enos chased down a Nikone Soupharath header and got it past the goalie, but the ball trickled wide and Woonsocket cleared it.

Despite those chances, Vets knew it needed to play a better brand of soccer.

“The kids are playing hard, but we’re flat,” Kenney said. “We’ve been flat at home on a couple of occasions. They’re playing hard, but it seems like we’re running in mud, trying to catch up.”

And it got worse.

In the 52nd minute, Jobe lofted a cross for Kyle Girard on the right post, and Girard headed it back inside the left corner of the net to make it 2-0. Just over three minutes later, the Novans made it 3-0 when Ronaldo Ledezma Marquez got behind the defense and touched the ball past Costa.

“We gave them a ton of chances,” Kenney said. “They’re a good team. They’re at the top of the division for a reason. They have a bunch of weapons that look like they’re healthy, and that’s the biggest thing in this division.”

With starters Adam Dorsey and Brad Robert already sidelined with injuries, Vets lost Soupharath – a senior captain – just 15 minutes into the second half, and the ’Canes could never get onto the comeback trail. Costa made 13 saves in the game to keep Woonsocket from pulling further away, but Vets got no closer.

Vets was shut-out for just the second time all season.

“It was just one of those days,” Kenney said.

At .500 with four games left, Vets should still be in position for a playoff berth in D-III, where the top 12 teams make it. Vets currently sits in eighth. Fifteen teams are in the league and five of them have two wins or fewer, meaning Vets has some breathing room.

Still, the ’Canes want to finish strong against the tough schedule. They’ll host third-place Cranston East on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., before visiting sixth-place Burrillville on Friday. The season concludes next week with games against Exeter/West Greenwich – who’s one point back of Vets in the standings – and undefeated Davies.

“Our schedule doesn’t get any easier,” Kenney said. “We should get in, but we’ve got to win a couple more. We want to be at least at .500.”

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