By ED OWENS

Sports Editor

 

The Warwick Vets girls' lacrosse team saw the most successful season in its program's history come to an end with a 10-4 loss to Bay View in the Division II semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bengals broke out to an early lead, building a 7-1 advantage in the first half, while Vets' high-powered offense was slow out of the gate. And while some of the 'Canes' offensive problems were self-inflicted, Bay View's defense helped keep Vets in check and held the 'Canes' to their lowest scoring total in nearly a month.

"We made passes when we were in their zone, which amazed me because we usually don't do that," Vets coach Charlie Benson said. "We usually take those right to the goal. That is what we did against them last time where we had 16 shots and scored 11 times. Today, when we did take it in, there were some hit posts and we had some crazy shots. We played good today but to beat Bay View at home you have to play your best game."

Vets trailed 2-0 when senior captain Jackie Insana got the 'Canes on the scoreboard. But Warwick struggled to keep Bay View out of its zone as Taylor Allison, Cate Collucci and Maddie Brown each scored twice for the Bengals. Allison netted both of her goals in the first half and Bay View took a 7-2 lead into the break.

"I thought that we were playing as well as them in the first half," Benson said. "We hit three posts in the first half and had a couple of bad bounces but, if a couple of those had gone the other way it would have been a much different first half."

Collucci, who played on Bay View's defense, posed a constant match-up problem for Vets. She regularly took the ball up on attack, which forced the 'Canes' defenders to switch their assignments in order to pick Collucci up. And, when the defense was slow to make the switch, Collucci made them pay for it.

"[Collucci] plays defense but she is so good that she brings the ball up," Benson said. "So if she is guarding an attack person and she moves up, the attack person doesn't go with her, which presents a problem for us on defense. They can still only have seven on that side, so one of their players has to go back, but our defense has to recognize that and switch."

And while Collucci forced the 'Canes' defenders to change their marks, Vets' sophomore Dani Vasquez was charged with shadowing Brown, the Bengals' top scoring threat. Vasquez took the Bay View freshman one-on-one throughout the course of the game and limited Brown to just two goals in the contest.

"Dani did an unbelievable job on her," Benson said. "This girl scored six goals on us last time and scored six goals the next time in a playoff game — and we held her to two flukey goals today. She was almost non-existent in this game and it was because Dani did such a good job controlling her. I can't speak highly enough about what she did."

Vets held Bay View to just three second-half goals but could not close the gap enough to pose a serious threat late in the game. Insana netted her second goal midway through the second half. Kim Courcy and Alex DiMauro also scored in the game.

Vets out-shot the Bengals 20-19 but Bay View goalie Kate Hall came up with 16 saves in the game. Ashley Maguire had nine saves in net for the 'Canes.

"Ashley was huge again today," Benson said. "She really had a nice game. If you look at the score, it is unbelievable, but she had nine or 10 saves in there. She was phenomenal today."

Vets finished the season with an 11-4 overall record. And while the 'Canes did not take home a championship trophy; they were still honored with some serious hardware. Insana, Kate Chouinard and Danielle Sequira were named to the All-Division II-South first team while Maguire, Steph Fraser and Emily Cotter earned second-team honors. Insana and Chouinard were also picked as two of the 12 members of the All-Division II team and Julia Brough and Tori Bernardo were selected to the scholastic all-division squad.

Vets will lose Insana, Chouinard, MaGuire and Brough to graduation this season. Chouinard becomes just the second four-year player in the program's history and will go on to play at Rhode Island College next year.

"Those four seniors have been so huge in so many ways," Benson said. "Kate has been there from the beginning and she will be going on to play at RIC for us next year, which will be very exciting. And I can't say enough about Ashleigh because I know that she wanted to be out on the field and did not want to play goal. But she did it for the team and that is exactly what Ashleigh is; she is a team player.

"Julia meant a lot to this team on and off the field. She may not have gotten to play as much but she wins the team sportsmanship award every year because she is so much fun to be around. And Jackie is a lion. She is a perfect person to have as a captain because she keeps the kids together and she never gives up. She has got a heart of gold and that is the kind of kid that you want out there."

While the loss of those four players will obviously hurt the 'Canes, Benson has a very positive outlook for the team's future. Vets' JV team did not lose a single game this season and has a roster full of players ready for their shot on the varsity level. And with a strong core of experienced players, Vets' first state championship might not be far off.

"There is a lot of talent on that JV team and I have never seen desire like that on a JV team before," Benson said. "And I am hearing now that we are going to have tons of new kids coming out in addition to the kids that we already have on the JV team. I think that we are well stocked for the future. I was looking back on what I said earlier this year when I said "I want to make this one of the elite programs.' I think we are in good position for that next year. We are in good shape."