The Toll Gate boys soccer team fell in the Division IV Semifinals 4-1 to top-seeded Mt. Pleasant on Monday night in North Providence.

The Kilties jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening three minutes, but Toll Gate’s Aiden Preuit would break away and tie things up just before the halftime break. Mt. Pleasant wasted little time in the second half, regaining a 2-1 lead less than two minutes into play, and then would add two more insurance goals to put away the win. Two of the Kilties’ goals came on corner kicks.

“On the corners, we just didn’t do our job well enough, we didn’t challenge them there. We let them attack the ball and that’s just laziness. They worked hard and they earned it, simple as that,” said Toll Gate coach Jason Melo after the loss.

The Kilties boasted the division’s top offense and scored a combined 13 points against the Titans in their previous two matchups. Things were looking up in the first half as the Toll Gate defense nearly shut down the Kilties, but Mt. Pleasant would find its rhythm in the final 40 minutes to surge.

“We know that they have the capability of putting up high goal totals on us. They did it to us twice, they scored seven and six. We felt that we had a good game plan coming in and the first half showed that it was working. The second half, we came out flat footed and they took advantage,” said Melo.

Toll Gate had a turnaround season in 2022 and reached the championship game, then returned to make the semis this time around. With a strong senior core including Preuit, Christian Dias and Edrees Heidari, Melo was proud of the impact they made on the program in the past two seasons.

“To see their growth and maturity has been a pleasure to watch, I wish I had them four more years. They’ll be missed, but we’ll come back better than ever and hopefully be back to this game,” said Melo. “Just like last year, we had a lot of seniors that left an imprint and influenced the other kids. These kids have done just as well. We have a lot of young kids, a lot of freshmen. For them to get this experience in this atmosphere, I’m sure they’ll be hungry to get back here next year.”